Following the in-principle consent from the College of Fisheries, Mangaluru, to house the Marine Product Export Development Authority (MPEDA) approved quality control lab, the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry has written to J V Patil, Additional Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Bengaluru to push the proposal further. Isaac Vas, president, KCCI, said, We would like DGFT to pursue, amongst other matters, a setting up of the MPEDA approved quality control lab in Mangaluru. The lab would greatly benefit in boosting the export of fish from this district. He said the undivided Dakshina Kannada is a hub for fishing industries across the value chain. We export an average of 1,18,466 tonnes of fish and fisheries products. For export of fish and fisheries products, the exporter must get the fish tested at the MPEDA quality control lab. The nearest approved lab is at Kochi. The exporters from this region have to send their samples to Kochi to get their product tested, which causes a delay of around six working days. At times, the test results are available after 10 working days. Due to these delays, there is a block on working capital for the industry as the exporter cannot export the product on a timely basis. The industry has to store the material in cold storage, causing colossal power consumption and blocking of storage space which could otherwise be used for more efficient productions. Since the State government is proposing a fish processing park in Mangaluru, it is imperative that the testing and certification of the export products get done without much loss of time to maintain the value chain of the products exported, Vas said, urging DGFT to pursue with its parent ministry- the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for setting up of the quality control lab.
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