The Hindu Business Line : Shrimp exporters open offices in US to be `importers on record'

IN a bid to revive the declining shrimp exports, several Indian companies have begun acting as `importers on record' in the US, Mr G. Mohan Kumar, Chairman, Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), said.

The move comes in the wake of the US Department of Commerce imposing anti-dumping duties on shrimp imports from India.

Several companies are opening subsidiaries in the US to import the shrimp processed in their own production centres in India, said sources in the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI).

The hesitation by several of the US-based importers to pay the anti-dumping duty and resume their shrimp import operations had resulted in a steep fall in Indian shrimp exports to the US.

Shrimp exports to the US, has been consistently falling in the past few months. But it is poised to pick up with several Indian companies reviving their export operations, and their subsidiary or representative in the is US acting as the `importer on record'.

"Earlier, there had been very little by way of value-added shrimp exports to the US. Most of it used to be exported in bulk and the US importers would add value, brand and repack it for sale in the US stores," SEAI sources said.

Now the subsidiaries of Indian firms and Indian `importers on record' have begun to realise better prices since they sell their product in smaller quantities to smaller processors.

Several of these `Indian importers' are building up warehousing and storage facilities in the US, which substantially reduces the compulsion to sell on arrival.

"They would be able to wait and negotiate while the market prices rise, before they sell. There need be no distress sale. Some of them are also exploring avenues to enter into the retail market in a small way," the sources said.

And a few of the Indian exporters are contemplating to set up processing units in the US, which could provide the first foothold by Indian companies into the multi-million dollar US branded seafood markets, the sources added. The difference is likely to emerge in the months to come.

Some positive trends are emerging on the anti-dumping case, which is being fought by the Indian seafood industry in the US court.

In the wake of the extensive damage caused by the tsunami to India, its catch and the seafood industry, the `changed circumstances review' being undertaken by the US Government could favour India, Mr Kenneth J. Pierce, the lawyer representing the Indian seafood industry in the US, is reported to have said.

On the legal front, there are emerging possibilities for new exporters under the `new shipper review', Mr Pierce who was in India last week is reported to have said.

The question that is being raised is, whether the anti-dumping duty would be applicable to `new shippers' from India, whose price calculations were not taken into consideration while formulating the duty structure by the US.

The Indian shrimp exporters are exploring fresh inroads into the US markets, while the industry is exploring several new legal avenues to take its case forward in the US courts, industry sources said. Marine exports to the US had fallen by 5.55 per cent during 2004-05 to $345 million mainly on account of the anti-dumping duty.

However, the US still remained the second largest destination for the country's $1.4 billion seafood exports.

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