Fishery exporters should avoid water injection into cargo: MFF

Published on Sunday, 20 January 2013 07:56

To maintain the quality of Myanmar fishes, all the exporters should avoid injecting water into the goods, Myanmar Fishery Federation (MFF) recently announced.

Dr. Myint Sein, executive member of MFF, expressed his concerns over the consequences of the practice of distorting the actual weight of fish for better price.

“Some exporters are injecting water into the back of the fish to steal weight of the cargo. This will damage the quality of the fishes, which will again impact the perception of the market. It doesn’t matter who commits it. The market will assume that fishes coming from Myanmar are water-injected, and then we all will face the consequences,” he said.

He added that the subject is concerned with all the fishery exporters and urged them to cooperate with the federation in finding solution.

Exporters normally put ice in the abdomen of fishes to keep it frozen and fresh. It does not affect the cargo quality. On the other hand, injected water in the flesh of the fish can damage the quality.

A fishery exporter said, “If the water, which is injected into the fish, is contaminated, the goods will cause health problems for the consumers.”

Toe Nandar Tin, fishery exporter, said that she is against the water-injecting, since exporters can use ice coating.

She said, “We coat thin layer of ice on the fishes to keep the required temperature, which is 18’C for our cargo, inside the containers. That thin layer of ice will keep the cargo frozen when the temperature in the container changes. Since this is a measure to maintain the cargo quality, it is internationally accepted. But water-injecting is not totally acceptable.”

She highlighted that Myanmar fishery products are gaining markets in Australia for its quality, and urged exporters to avoid such practices as water-injecting in order to keep the good image.