Jakarta. Indonesia is seeking to convince the United States to remove its shrimp producers from the so-called “yellow list”, as Jakarta tries to cool down the radiation scare spoiling its seafood exports. 

The archipelagic country is now back in the shrimp business, with Washington following some certification measures. The freshly deployed containers even hit the one-million-dollar mark in value.

In early August, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) detected the radionuclide Cs-137 in a frozen shrimp sample from Bahari Makmur Sejati (BMS), a supplier based in Banten’s Cikande. The US FDA has since restricted BMS from supplying shrimp to the American market.

The FDA has put 41 other shrimp processing units located in Lampung and Java Island on the agency's yellow list, which calls for intensified surveillance. These firms can still make their shipments to the US as long as they have the government-issued certificate that proves their exports are radiation-free. The aforementioned Banten province lies in the westernmost part of Java.

“We will comply with the US FDA’s demands, including the terms on the yellow list that affect the producers in Java and Lampung,” Ishartini, a senior official at the Fishery Ministry, told a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday.

“The FDA will send an inspection team here to see if we have a robust surveillance system. If we can prove that, we can request them to remove [our producers from] the yellow list,” she said.

The Fishery Ministry is now certifying US-bound shrimps that it deems to be free of Cs-137, particularly those from the producers on the yellow list. Indonesia has shipped 7 containers of these certified shrimps between Oct. 31 and Nov 4, weighing 106 tons and worth $1.22 million. Work is underway to integrate the certification systems of both countries.

Indonesia aims to ship over 200 containers of certified shrimps to the US throughout November.

“We will maintain our compliance with standard operating procedures and guarantee that our products are uncontaminated. The more shrimps cleared for export, the better our image among American customers,” Ishartini said.

She went on to say that the banned BMS has done some “corrective actions” following the incident. The company is now under an audit by a third party appointed by the FDA.

The government reported that Indonesia’s fishery export to the US totalled nearly $1.5 billion between January and September, the highest compared to other markets. China was Indonesia’s second-biggest fishery customer as the Asian superpower bought around $812.8 million of the seafood. Indonesia’s global shrimp exports reached almost $1.4 billion over the same nine-month period.

The Health Ministry has warned that short-term exposure to Cs-137 could lead to diarrhea and headaches. Symptoms from high-intensity exposure may result in severe infection, organ failure, and even death.

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