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A team from the European Union, a major importer of
Indonesian fisheries products, is currently inspecting fish-processing
plants here, including factories in North Sulawesi, a major fish
producing region.
"The inspections are being conducted to make sure that all the
fisheries products exported to Europe are processed in accordance with
EU requirements," Joy Korah, a senior official in the North Sulawesi
fisheries office, told Antara on Thursday.
A group of EU officials has been inspecting fish-processing factories
in South Sulawesi over the last two weeks.
Joy said that besides inspecting fish factories, the EU team also
wanted to check whether the fishing techniques practiced by local
fishermen were environmentally friendly.
The EU exercises strict quality control over fish and fisheries
products exported to European countries, not only as regards health
hazards, but also as part of its program to curb illegal fishing.
Johny Rumagit, the head of the export/import unit in the South Sulawesi
provincial trade office said that such inspections were a normal part
of import procedures in developed countries.
In 2006, fisheries products exported from South Sulawesi to the
Netherlands were worth US$70.7 million, while exports to Germany
totaled $10 million and Spain $4.64 million.
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