Bihar team inspects West Godavari fish exporting unit

Vijayawada: Responding to the invitation sent by Andhra Pradesh government to test the quality of fish exported from the state, a delegation of officials from Bihar visited a fish exporting plant and tested the quality of fish, verified the packaging system and inspected the export procedure.

A team of officials led by Principal Secretary N V Vijay Lakshmi of Bihar visited export plant in Unguturu mandal of West Godavari district on Tuesday. The visit was made in response to the invitation sent by Andhra Pradesh government. Earlier, the Bihar government had imposed ban on imports of fish from Andhra Pradesh alleging that harmful chemicals were used in cultivation and packing the fish.

Fish and prawn farmers in West Godavari are suffering losses due to the ban imposed by Bihar government. The Andhra Pradesh government decided to convince the Bihar government to lift the ban and asked the officials to verify the export units in West Godavari.

Andhra Pradesh commissioner of fisheries Ram Sankar Naik, joint director of fisheries S Anjali and fish exporter Manoj Kumar have explained to the Bihar delegation that harmful chemicals are not used for exporting of fish to other states.

Exporter Manoj Kumar said 120 fish traders export 8 to 12 tons of fish in over 100 trucks every day to other states. He said there is no scope for using the harmful chemicals in cultivation or packing of fish.

Commissioner of fisheries Ram Sankar Naik said teams comprising the officials of animal husbandry, food safety and fisheries were constituted in the state to inspect the trucks to test the quality of fish exported from the State. West Godavari district collector Praveen Kumar, Bihar officials Bipin Sarma, Ajay Kumar, fish traders and fish farmers present on the occasion.