Indonesia drafts Cs-137-free certification to boost shrimp exports

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) is preparing a scheme and procedures for Cesium-137-free certification to support Indonesian shrimp exports.

"The ministry's Quality Agency has prepared a scheme and procedures for Cesium-137-free certification in accordance with the requirements set by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Import Alert #99-52," the head of the ministry's Quality Agency, Ishartini, said in a statement on Sunday.

This measure is taken to provide excellent public service and encourage the export of healthy, high-quality, and safe shrimp for consumption, ensuring acceptance in the destination countries.

"The US FDA has appointed the KKP ministry as the Certifying Entity (CE) for Indonesian shrimp exported to the US," she added.

The KKP prepared a series of business processes for Cesium-137 certification in collaboration with the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (Bapeten) and the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Ishartini explained.

The initiative ensures that shrimps exported to the United States are free from Cs-137 by implementing scanning and testing at critical stages of Indonesia’s shrimp production chain, particularly in Java and Lampung.

In addition, the ministry has also released a shipment of shrimp products certified as free of Cesium-137 to the United States.

The first export of shrimp products using the Cesium-137-free certificate was carried out at the container terminal of Tanjung Priok Port, Jakarta, on Friday (October 31).

"October 31 is the date Import Alert 99-52 regulations come into effect in the US, and it also marks the first export of Indonesian shrimp free of Cs-137. We want to prove our international-level quality assurance system," she emphasized.

Ishartini conveyed that the first export of Cs-137-free shrimp consists of two shipments, destined for the ports of New York and Los Angeles.

Following the initial export on October 31, another shipment was carried out on November 1, bound for Miami and Jacksonville, United States.

Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono reaffirmed his ministry’s commitment, as the competent authority for fishery product quality assurance, to maintaining quality standards across the entire fisheries production chain to deliver safe and high-quality products to consumers.