Other News: Indonesia and Thailand get off the hook on billionaire shrimp duties

The final hearing outcome of the International Trade Commission’s (ITC) to deal with the case for allegedly subsidized shrimp imports that US producers consider unfair has been received with mixed feelings by the Gulf of Mexico’s shrimp processing industry. This is so because the  U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has ruled that it would exclude Indonesia and Thailand from tax duties to counterbalance the government's subsidies. 

On hearing the news, David Veal, the executive director of the Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industry (COGSI) remarked that it was a mixed bag and that shrimp industry producers were not totally unhappy about it. 

The news caused a significant setback to the shrimp producers of the area as the majority of the countries in question were taxed, but two of the main shrimp exporters, Thailand and Indonesia, were excused from paying.

The Department of Commerce determined the subsidies allocated vary according to the country and found out that in the case of those two countries, the subsidies were so low that they would not justify the implementation of compensation fees, reported Reuters.

The countries in question, China, Ecuador, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand generated revenues of around USD 3.4 billion in exports to the United States during 2012.

"We appreciate these robust numbers from the Commerce Department. Clearly, our industry faces a real threat from the billions of dollars of illegal subsidies from these five nations," remarked Veal. 

Nola.com reported that US Senator Mary Landrieu. D-La., supported the countervailing tax in writing stating that imposing countervailing duties "is to level the playing field, to support free and fair market conditions, and to provide the US shrimp industry with a chance to once again flourish."

"If we don't stop unfair import competition, we will end up driving hard-working entrepreneurs out of this business and depriving one of America's cherished cultures of an industry that has flourished for generations," remarked Landrieu.

Thailand was the main exporter of the frozen warm-water shrimp destined for the American public, about 122,000 tonnes valued in around USD 1.1 billion in 2012 whereas Ecuador was the second largest exporter with 72,000 tonnes, the newspaper Advocate informed.

The International Trade Commission will take a final decision on 19 September about the damage subsidized imports of foreign shrimp cause to the United States.

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NOTE:
Balai Besar Penelitian dan Pengembangan Pengolahan Produk Kelautan dan Perikanan (Research and Development Center for Marine and Fisheries Product Processing and Biotechnology, BBP4KP) is the research center belonging government to make a product from fisheries and marine material. Many research is doing there include food product and nonfood product.
The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. Although the term refers specifically to fish, in practice it is extended to cover any aquatic organisms harvested for commercial purposes, whether caught in wild fisheries or harvested from aquaculture or fish farming.
Fish processing can be subdivided into fish handling, which is the preliminary processing of raw fish, and the manufacture of fish products. Another natural subdivision is into primary processing involved in the filleting and freezing of fresh fish for onward distribution to fresh fish retail and catering outlets, and the secondary processing that produces chilled, frozen and canned products for the retail and catering trades.