Pakistan bans nitrofuran import

The Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) of the European Union (EU) has long been
persuading the government to prevent the use of the hazardous antibiotic in feed
meal of fish and shrimps.

Against the backdrop, the Pakistan government
in an inter-ministerial meeting, chaired by Fisheries and Livestock Adviser CS
Karim, took the decision, a meeting source said.

A Statutory Regulatory
Order (SRO) will be issued within a few days in this connection.

Farmers
have been using the harmful antibiotic as an ingredient in poultry feed-meal to
reduce the rate of mortality.

Forbidden feed additive
Despite
repeated warning of the EU, some farmers have been using the antibiotic in fish
feed meal. As a result, a large importer of frozen food sent back a number of
consignments last year due to the presence of the chemical.

Recently, a
two-member inspection team of the EU expressed its grave concern over the use of
the antibiotic in fish products, which are being exported to the EU
markets.

The government has taken the step following the recommendations
of the EU inspection team.

The concerned ministry will have to send
report by next month to the FVO in Brussels on actions taken in line with their
recommendations.

The pharmaceutical sector, which earlier used the
harmful nitrofuran as ingredient of some medicines, has already banned the
application of the chemical. But farmers have been using the chemical for long
as veterinary drug in hatcheries and meal for poultry farms.

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story: Nitrofuran in fish