Inspections rise despite Guangdong assurances
Quarantine offices are increasing inspections of mainland fish imports despite a Guangdong official insisting that fish farmed in the province for export are not contaminated by malachite green.
Exit-Entry Quarantine and Inspection Bureau deputy director Huang Weimin also asked Hong Kong authorities to check the source of contamination of freshwater fish found in markets to clear Guangdong's reputation.
'I can vouch for all fish inspected by the bureau but there are all kinds of fish including smuggled fish in the Hong Kong market,' he said.
Guangdong suspended eel exports to Japan last week. Mr Huang said: 'For years, we have exported eels to Japan and we have never had any problem. We do not have this problem in Japan where the standards are higher.'
He said the problem may have arisen because some people used malachite green as an antiseptic to treat infections in fish after antibiotics were banned a few years ago. But its use was disallowed on the mainland after the chemical was banned in the US and Europe.
Mr Huang said fish found to contain malachite green could have been contaminated by tanks cleaned with the chemical.
'Hong Kong wants us to resume regular supply but we are conducting inspection of each batch and that is creating a backlog.'
The bureau, which supervises about 40 farms with export permits, issues 1,700 export certifications daily. It requires farms to conduct self-inspections and submit daily records of water quality, feed and chemicals and fish mortality.
Guangdong exports 9,000 tonnes of eels a year - 80 per cent of the mainland's total - earning up to 1 billion yuan.
Market sources said Guangdong supplied 90 per cent of Hong Kong's fish, mainly from cities such as Shunde , Nanhai and Zhongshan .
An official at a Shunde farm that supplied 10 tonnes of freshwater fish to Hong Kong daily said it had never failed inspections in six or seven years.
'This scare has caused us not only financial losses but worst, our reputation is tarred,' a company executive said, adding the farm was shipping 40 per cent less live fish to Hong Kong daily.
Instead of using malachite green, farms certified by the inspection and quarantine bureau change water regularly, sun-dry tanks to disinfect them and line them with a layer of lime.
