Exporting King Prawn To The Uk From Thailand

[Ground Engineer]

Im looking at exporting Frozen King Prawn from Thailand to the UK. Im going up to Samut Sakon next week to have a look at a few frozen food exporters. However on speaking to one exporter they said they couldnt export to the UK as you need a certificate. Can any one shed any light on this. Also wondering how much tax would be payable on the container in the UK.

[listenup]

I once met a guy in a Bangkok pub that exported fish/prawns for a living. I'm 90% he was exporting to the UK though.

If you need a certificate, find out how to get one!

Good luck! If you pull it off, send me a box

[Ground Engineer]

I once met a guy in a Bangkok pub that exported fish/prawns for a living. I'm 90% he was exporting to the UK though.

If you need a certificate, find out how to get one!

Good luck! If you pull it off, send me a box

Thats encouraging will send you a box if it works out.

[Khun Bob]

I look at the packaging of food produced in thailand and bought in the uk. I have seen on sea food (and other products) a code printed onto the packaging. I would assume that this relates to a license for the export or import of the produce.

There must be a uk gov website that goes into detail about this and what the requirements and costs are. It could be/should be quite stringent as what happens if there are problems with the imported food ? Where does the responsibility for food safety lie ?

I've got no background in this at all, but would be interested to know what is involved in doing things the right way...

[Prakanong]

Look at EU rules as well - Thailand used to get special treatment on tariffs until circa 2000 then the rules changed.

I once sat next to a Thai Diplomat who was going to work in agriculture at the EU on a flight from BKK to BRU via FRA.

She was a specialist in aquiculture and spoke about the industry - we got on talking about this as I was reading the book Thaksinomics

She also gaver me as she was new to Brussels her number but never rang her - maybe a mistake

[Khun Bob]

Why not try asking one of the bigger uk importers such as manning impex etc or find a thai exporter and ask them where to get further info - they should be in a good position to know as they actually do it. The UK gov agencies should help but I have found them to be quite the opposite and very limited in scope and dont know the full picture (lots of jobs for people who have no interest in doing it...)

[Ground Engineer]

Looks like its the EU certificate that is required. This is an ISO9001 certificate which is required if you want to export to the EU. Some companies have it some dont. Looked at the UK goverment websites........didnt seem to give any usefull information at all. Everything was very long winded and complicated.

[raro]

You need indeed a company that is certified for exporting frozen food. Check with the FDA. There are also some EU reguilations you have to meet.

Will explore this and post here later some details.

[macan]

The certification they refer to is 'approved premises' status which is granted to the individual processors/packers, you can get a list of companies certified to export to the UK here http://circa.europa.eu/irc/sanco/vets/info...listes/11th.pdf , contact details are not so good but once you know the name you can find them through the Thai Frozen Food Association online search http://www.thai-frozen.or.th/en/index.asp

To find out about EU tarriffs go here http://export-help.cec.eu.int/

[Ground Engineer]

The certification they refer to is 'approved premises' status which is granted to the individual processors/packers, you can get a list of companies certified to export to the UK here <a href="http://circa.europa.eu/irc/sanco/vets/info/data/listes/11th.pdf" target="_blank">http://circa.europa.eu/irc/sanco/vets/info...listes/11th.pdf</a> , contact details are not so good but once you know the name you can find them through the Thai Frozen Food Association online search <a href="http://www.thai-frozen.or.th/en/index.asp" target="_blank">http://www.thai-frozen.or.th/en/index.asp</a>

To find out about EU tarriffs go here <a href="http://export-help.cec.eu.int/" target="_blank">http://export-help.cec.eu.int/</a>

Thanks macan. Very much appreciated.

[raro]

ok, here is what our Bangkok office replied:

##quote##

The brief answer is the documents required depend on the importing country. My guess would be a Health Certificate from the Ministry of Fisheries, perhaps a C/O. They may be additional regulations in the US and the EU, he will have to ask the consignee.

##unquote##

/edit: once your plans become more concrete, we can explore this with our overseas agents in detail. We handle frozen food already, so from the operations side there should be no problem!

Edited October 24, 2007 by raro

[INDIJON]

ok, here is what our Bangkok office replied:

##quote##

The brief answer is the documents required depend on the importing country. My guess would be a Health Certificate from the Ministry of Fisheries, perhaps a C/O. They may be additional regulations in the US and the EU, he will have to ask the consignee.

##unquote##

/edit: once your plans become more concrete, we can explore this with our overseas agents in detail. We handle frozen food already, so from the operations side there should be no problem!

Just a thought that may be of help, you can check with the Dept of Fisheries based at Kasetsart University campus, another posibility is to talk to the sea freight companies already working in this field they will know the paperwork needed.

[raro]

We handle frozen food already, so from the operations side there should be no problem!

another posibility is to talk to the sea freight companies already working in this field they will know the paperwork needed.

We do know actually, but the matter is rather complex and different from country to country.

[macan]

Smash and Grab was written in 2003 not last week, the scaremongering arguments presented were based on information that was way outdated even then.

[Khun Bob]

So what has changed since before 2003 ? what has been described is no longer there ?!

[macan]

The report in question was pretty dodgy with a lot of statistics taken out of context, misreported and just plain made-up. Of course there have been and still are social and environmental problems in practically every production sector and the shrimp industry went through a boom and bust phase in the 90s when undoubtedly a lot of crazy things happened.

However things have changed for the better as a result of a strengthening governmental and market-led regulatory environment. Public and environmental health are a big deal in many countries. Consumers are increasingly concerned about the food that they eat and the environmental and social impacts of the production processes and this has led to a situation such as the OP has found whereby he cannot easily just go out and start shipping shrimp to certain markets (though he probably could to many other markets).

The aquaculture industry and shrimp in particular have seen major improvements in technology, husbandry and environmental management; the klondike atmosphere is over and now the industry is increasingly professional. Most juvenile shrimp are now reared in hatcheries not taken from the wild, most farms have reduced their water exchange to very low levels, some have zero discharge to the environment, the shrimp juveniles from hatcheries are largely disease free and disease resistant removing the need for major medication.

An important feature has been the formation of the Aquaculture Certification Council which certifies producers, hatcheries, feedmills and processors for compliance with environmental, social and food safety standards. There are several other certification bodies active in the sector, including WWF a leading environmental NGO which recognises the potential for sustainable aquaculture and chooses to work with the industry in a constructive way rather than just attacking it.

[tayto]

Having been in the business for over 20 years I also looked at this possibility.

Shortly after I had completed a feasibility study and after spending months trying to get proper certificates in order,EEC put a ban on all imports of shellfish from Thailand.

Though some restrictions have been lifted it is a nightmare trying to get it right.

Beware, after completing all the paperwork and exporting your cargo, it can be refused and all the expense will be yours.

Good luck .

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-2491211_ITM

Edited November 12, 2007 by tayto