SoQ may turn country into global shrimp leader

An effective seal of quality (SoQ) system with properly recognised code of conduct and third party certification covering the entire shrimp supply chain could turn Bangladesh into a global leader.

A Bangladesh SoQ team recently found the feedback while visiting some European shrimp buyers including AHOLD, the world's largest grocery store chain with over 9,000 stores and 66 billion euros turnover in 2001 and giant UK retailer Marks & Spencer, according to a statement issued by Agro-based Technology Development Project-II.

The European buyers and NGOs, many of whom have been critics of the Bangladesh shrimp industry in the past, told the visiting team consumers with their purchasing capacity and a wide variety of choice are the real power in retail shrimp industry today. This power is reflected in the choices that the consumers make in the super markets and grocery stores, they stated.

The buyers and NGOs mentioned that these consumers are demanding safe and hygienic shrimps that are produced in humane and environmentally friendly working conditions, the statement said.

The meetings with the European buyers and NGOs were organised in order to solicit the views of the buyers and consumers directly about Bangladesh's shrimp industry.

European buyers and consumers have expressed interest in buying from and working with those entrepreneurs who can meet the international certification codes.

Apart from AHOLD and Marks & Spencer, the Bangladesh SoQ team met with Dutch and Belgium seafood importers Pieters Visbedriff, WG Den Heijer & Zn Scheveningen, Hottlet Frozen Foods and ISPC, a catering supplier. The team also met with Societe Generale De Surveillance (SGS), a Swiss testing and certification company and UK NGOs Oxfam, Ethical Trading Initiative and The Environmental Justice Foundation.