pakistani seafood exporters have been driven to the brink by a recent government ban on seafood exports following an inspection by a three-member team of the eu Food and Veterinary Office (fvo). T he team warned Pakistani authorities that the country would lose its largest seafood export market if it didn't ensure that the seafood met eu standards. The government admits that the ban was driven by quality concerns. It says it has asked the fisheries authorities of Sindh, the seafood industry hub, to work for allaying eu's apprehensions.

The eu countries, which accounted for 54 per cent of Pakistan's us$128 million seafood exports in 2003-2004, had already imposed 100 per cent checks on Pakistani frozen fish products after the detection of a contaminated consignment at Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in March 2002. "The Marine Fisheries Department (mfd) of the ministry of food and agriculture and livestock (mofal) was not able to demonstrate that the laws in force, which are intended to deliver the guarantees prescribed by the Commission decision in December 1999, were effectively applied