2 replies to this topic

[sanidadexterior]

India is one of the world's largest producers of farmed shrimp, with the United States being one of its main export markets (246,000 tons in 2023). There are 650 shrimp processing plants in India.

Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) Certification is an international certification system

that covers aspects as diverse as animal welfare, environmental impact, and food safety.

Of the 650 Indian establishments, 130 are BAP certified.

The Indian aquaculture sector faces several food safety issues: bacterial contamination (Salmonella, Vibrio), and chemical contamination (Nitrofurans, Chloramphenicol). The US FDA has issued several import alerts for aquaculture products.

Import Alert 16-35 (Salmonella & Filth), Import Alert 16-129 (Nitrofurans), Import Alert 16-127 (Chloramphenicol).

Alert 16-35 includes 193 Indian plants, 104 of which are BAP-certified.

Import Alert 16-35 (salmonella and filth), Import Alert 16-129 (nitrofurans), Import Alert 16-127 (chloramphenicol). Alert 16-35 includes 193 Indian plants, 104 of which are BAP-certified. In the last five years, 161 rejections of Indian shrimp imports have been recorded, 18 in the EU, 29 in Japan and 114 in the USA.

107 correspond to shipments from BAP establishments, 36 consignments correspond to uncertified plants and 18 in which the issuing establishment cannot be identified since the European RASFF does not identify infringing establishments.

Based on these data, it does not appear that BAP certification provides an additional guarantee regarding the food safety of certified products.

 

For more information, you can see de attached file

 

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[Shrimper]

Finally a topic directly in my wheelhouse! My facility in the USA is BAP certified as our GFSI standard and source from BAP plants throughout South America and Asia. In the past year, we have had import alerts and containers detained from facilities in both Ecuador and India for aquaculture drugs. After doing extensive testing, both the plants and ourselves could not find any residues of the aquaculture drugs.

 

Since you are focusing on India for this, there are extreme gradients to the quality and compliance levels across different regions and processors. Some BAP-certified plants operate at very high standards, while others may struggle with implementation or face systemic issues like water contamination, antibiotic misuse at the farm level, or inadequate traceability.

 

In our case, even with BAP certification and rigorous internal testing, we’ve encountered detentions due to suspected aquaculture drug residues. What’s concerning is that follow-up testing—both at the source and independently—often fails to confirm the presence of these residues. This raises questions about:

• Testing methodologies and thresholds used by border inspection agencies.
• Environmental cross-contamination or false positives.
• The gap between certification standards and enforcement.

 

BAP is a valuable framework, but it’s not a silver bullet. It needs to be paired with robust internal QA/QC, transparent supply chain data, and perhaps more harmonized international testing protocols just like every other standard. Until then, even certified facilities can find themselves caught in regulatory crossfire.

 

This goes back to the thread the other day talking about how "useful" GFSI standards are for true food safety. Don't get me wrong, BAP is most likely an easier standard to comply with than BRC and others, but it is not it is not exactly a walk in the park either. It demands effort, oversight, and a real commitment to food safety—not just ticking boxes.

 

Cheers,

Shrimper

[sanidadexterior]

Hello, I don't know how BAP certification works in the USA, but in India I'd say it could be significantly improved.

We have the case of the processing plant with Indian authorization number 1896, which has BAP certification no. P10805.

This plant is included in the three FDA import alerts (salmonella, chloramphenicol, and nitrofurans).

This producer has four BAP stars, so it covers the entire shrimp production cycle and has its certification valid until October 2025. It seems that compliance with BAP standards has no relation to import alerts or border rejections.

 

https://aquaasiapac....fusals-of-2025/

 

    Best regards