Meghalaya will not ban import of fish from outside

Shillong, July 18: Despite fear that fish imported from outside are being preserved with harmful preservatives like formalin, the Meghalaya government however decided not to ban the import of fish from other states like Andhra Pradesh.

This decision was taken at a joint meeting chaired by Meghalaya health minister, A.L. Hek in the presence of fisheries minister, Comingone Ymbon health officials and food safety officials and representatives of the Khasi Jaiñtia Fish Wholesaler and Retailer Association on Wednesday.

“After discussing the issue at length, we decided not to ban the import of fish from outside for now. However spot testing of samples collected from fish brought from the outside in markets as well as those being unloaded from trucks would be carried out from Thursday,”

The Meghalaya fisheries department has already procured testing kits “formalin (formaldehyde) detection kit.”

Hek informed that 13 out of 26 samples sent for test at the State Public Health Laboratory in Assam, were all negative, and the state government is waiting for test reports on another 13 samples.

Hek said if found that samples collected from fish contained harmful preservatives during the spot test, the state government would ban the import of fish from outside.

 Khasi Jaiñtia Fish Wholesaler and Retailer Association president, Mitchell Wankhar said that fishes brought from outside including from Andhra Pradesh would take a minimum of five days to reach Meghalaya.

He however denied lacing of harmful preservatives like formalin, while claiming that scientific methods have been adopted for preserving fishes brought from outside the state.

Wankhar also ruled out using of harmful preservatives like formalin to prevent fishes from getting decomposed, and urged the people not to believe in fake news being circulated through social media.

 Meghalaya is importing about 21,000 metric tons of fish annually from outside like Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam, while the state on its own could produce only around 12,000 metric tons annually.