A national-level task force constituted under the aegis of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has finalised and submitted the guidelines for green certification of ornamental fishes to Leena Nair, Chairman, MPEDA, at a function organised at the MPEDA head office here on Tuesday.
The seven-member task force, chaired by E.G. Silas, former Vice-Chancellor, Kerala Agricultural University, was formed after an international workshop on green certification of ornamental fishes organised here from October 14 to 18, 2008, by the MPEDA, in association with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Project Piaba Brazil.
Kuruvilla Thomas, Director (Marketing), MPEDA, welcomed the gathering and gave the introductory remarks at the function.
Ms. Nair suggested that the document, the first of its kind in the sector, be sent to international organisations such as the FAO for constructive suggestions and later it could be released to the stakeholders.
Green certification, or eco-labelling, is the certification given to a product to ensure its environmental and socioeconomic sustainability.
It ensures product quality, safety and traceability, which, in turn, enhance the consumer acceptance of the product.
The workshop, considered a milestone, stressed the need for developing a value-chain approach from collection and culture to the export of ornamental freshwater fishes.
The issue of Geographical Indication of species is addressed in the guidelines. In the case of ornamental fish, Geographical Indication becomes imperative as it will indicate the natural distribution of a species and the location and country it belongs to.
This will give legal protection to the species and help in the event of any IPR/patent issues.
Task force
The seven-member task force has gone into all details regarding collection of ornamental fish from the wild, their handling, holding facilities, culture of ornamental fish species, their handling and the facilities needed for the export of these and also have looked into the Geographical Indication of each species and the requirements needed for the import of exotic species.
The task force document gives in detail all requirements and criteria necessary for each link in the value-chain system, the adoption of which enables traceability and gives information about the way the fish is handled at various stages. The members of the task force were A. Gopalakrishnan, NBFGR, Kochi; A. Ramachandran, Cochin University of Science and Technology; T.V. Anna Mercy, College of Fisheries, Panangad; Pushpangadan K.R., ornamental fish exporter, Kochi; Kripan Sarkar, ornamental fish breeder, West Bengal; Anikuttan K.K, Assistant Director (OFD), MPEDA; and Anilkumar P., former Assistant Director (OFD), MPEDA.