Costly Malaysia-Thailand seafood stand-off nears an end
Talks are advancing on resolving the dispute, but every day of delay is costing thousands of Thai shrimp farmers
Tentative signs of a way out emerged on Wednesday when Malaysian officials confirmed that their Thai counterparts had returned a completed food safety standards questionnaire for formal assessment.
Completing the questionnaire was a condition set by Malaysia for lifting the ban on five species of Thai shrimp it imposed on June 1.
“Definitely, there are certain developments after the returning of the answers from Thailand’s side,” Malaysian Deputy Agriculture and Food Security Minister Chan Foong Hin told This Week in Asia.
“Everything is under the process of communicating,” he added.
There are certain concerns on the biosecurity of the shrimp products
Malaysian authorities previously justified the import suspension as a reaction to Thailand ramping up inspections and testing of Malaysian sea bass due to concerns over chemical and antibiotic residues.