Indian exporters are gearing up to comply with US Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) regulations on shrimp, which will be enforced on US imports from India from Jan. 1, reports the Business Standard. 

SIMP requires traceability information on imported seafood from point of capture to the point of first sale in the US in order to thwart illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activity. It is mandatory for foreign shrimp products to be accompanied by harvest and landing data and for importers to maintain chain of custody records for shrimp imports entering the US.

“There has been an increase in compliance cost as documentary evidence needs to be provided for every container regarding its traceability for exports to US," said Aditya Dash, managing director, Ram's Assorted Cold Storage, a packer based in Odisha. "We have already initiated the documentation of shipments targeting the SIMP that will come into effect from Jan. 1, 2019."

Trade sources say that smaller exporters may find it extremely difficult to ship to the US.

"It is a move of the Trump administration to provide a level playing to its domestic producers. However, US shrimp production is not sufficient to meet the demand of their market. It is a kind of non-tariff barrier imposed by the US to discourage imports," said another exporter.