M'SIA CONFIDENT FARMS WILL PASS EU'S FOOD AUTHORITY'S INSPECTION

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 16 (Bernama) -- The Health Ministry is confident that five aquaculture farms and six processing premises, which will undergo inspection by European Union's Food and Veterinary Office (FVO), will be able to fulfil the agency's requirement.

Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the inspection would take place in March
and cover the entire production chain of seafood products.

"FVO officers will come between March 2-13 but we are appealing to
them to
come much earlier to speed up the resumption of export of seafood products to
the EU," he told reporters after attending a dialogue with industry
representatives here.

Present was Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Mustapa
Mohamed.

The EU suspended import of seafood products from Malaysia following a visit
by FVO officials on the farms and processing centres in April.

Liow said Malaysia exported RM600 million worth of frozen seafood a
year.

"We will monitor the situation following the FVO inspection in March," he
said, adding that exports of Malaysian seafood to the EU could resume six weeks
after the inspection.

-- BERNAMA