Qatar partially lifts ban on frozen seafood from India
Kolkata, Feb 17: Qatar partially lifted a ban imposed last year on the import of frozen seafood from India, the Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA) said on Friday.
Restrictions will continue on the export of chilled seafood which constitutes nearly one-third of total seafood exports to the West Asian country worth Rs 143 crore in 2021-22.
Frozen seafood is stored at minus 20 degrees whereas the storing temperature of chilled seafood is 3-4 c.
The ban was imposed in November last year, just ahead of the FIFA World Cup there, following the alleged detection of Vibrio cholerea a bacteria that causes cholera infection - from a few consignments from India, MPEDA officials said.
The Qatari authorities had informed India that the ban was temporary owing to a lack of sufficient testing laboratories in their country in the run-up to the football event.
"This week is proving to be very good for the seafood exporters in India, considering a similar lift in the suspension by China. We hope that the restrictions by Qatar on the chilled seafood will also be cleared soon after a reassessment of the situation," MPEDA Chairman DV Swami said.
Swami is in Kolkata for the India International Seafood Show held in association with the Seafood Exporters Association of India. Friday was the last day of the event.
The Department of Commerce along with the embassy of India in Qatar held a series of discussions with Qatar's Ministry of Public Health, leading to the issuance of a notification on Thursday lifting the ban partially.
In the current fiscal as per provisional figures, seafood exports to the West Asian country were worth nearly Rs 90 crore dominated by shrimps.
China has also lifted the suspension of shipments from 99 Indian seafood processing and exporting units, following which seafood exports are expected to cross USD 8 billion in the current fiscal.
In 2021-22, total seafood exports from India were valued at USD 7.76 billion.
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Trump says he called off dispatching envoys to Iran talks
Dubai (PTI): US President Donald Trump said he told his top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner not to travel to Pakistan to negotiate with Iran, stating on Fox News that "they can call us any time they want”.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won't negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports. Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the US “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade,” to allow a new round of negotiations, according to the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies in Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Pakistan on Saturday evening, two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Araghchi is expected back in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Sunday.
Trump said Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House. The meeting was the second high-level negotiation between the two countries this month. The initial 10-day ceasefire had been due to expire Monday.
The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil.
The move announced Friday is part of the administration's threat to impose secondary sanctions on entities doing business with Iran in an effort to cut off Iran's oil exports, which are a key source of its revenue.
Airlines worldwide have begun cancelling flights as the war in the Middle East strains jet fuel supplies and pushes up prices. Experts have offered information to travelers about what to do if a flight is cancelled.
Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won't negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports, according to Iranian media.
Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the US “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade”, to allow a new round of negotiations, the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies reported.
The Pakistani premier described the call as a “warm and constructive discussion”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi concluded a one-day trip to Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Saturday after meeting with Pakistani military and government officials.
The trip did not produce a breakthrough in efforts to relaunch negotiations after US President Donald Trump canceled a planned trip by his envoys to Islamabad.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will return to Pakistan after his current visit to Oman on his way to visiting Russia.
The report said he was expected to be back in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Sunday and would join other members of his delegation who had gone to Tehran for consultations and “instructions on the topics related to the end of the war.”
