Saudi Arabia Lifts Pakistani Shrimp Import Ban

PAKISTAN - Saudi Arabia has reportedly lifted its ban on the import of shrimps from Pakistan after extensive deliberations of concerned Ministries and Chairman Pak-Saudi Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PSJCCI) with Saudi ambassador to Pakistan.

"Minister for Ports and Shipping, Mir Hasil Bizenjo, other relevant Ministries and I made co-ordinated efforts to restore export of Pakistani shrimps to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi ambassador to Pakistan also played his role in the lifting of the ban," said PSJCCI president Mian Mehmood, BusinessRecorder reports. 

The decision of Saudi Arabian government would certainly send a positive message to the shrimp exporters whose business suffered after a ban on exports, he added.

Saudi Arabia had banned shrimps following white spot disease outbreaks in white-leg shrimp species from Pakistan.

Following this ban, the Marine Fisheries Department and Federal Ports and Shipping Ministry sought help from the Commerce Ministry to help Pakistan get delisted from the OIE's index of countries from which shrimps had been detected with the white spot disease.

Pakistan exported 189 metric tons of shrimp to Saudi Arabia worth $2.175 million in 2015. The total seafood export was 2,016 metric tons valued at $7.494 million.