PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia and Thailand are in talks to address concerns surrounding the trade of sea bass and prawns, with both countries working towards an amicable resolution.
Fisheries director-general Datuk Adnan Hussain said the discussions focused on enhancing technical requirements to facilitate trade without compromising biosecurity, food safety and aquatic animal health.
"Malaysia views the process as a technical coordination effort between the competent authorities of both countries and not as a trade dispute.
"The approach taken is based on science, risk management and shared interests to ensure the fisheries trade relationship continues to grow in a fair, transparent and mutually beneficial manner,” he said in a statement on Friday (July 10).
Adnan said Malaysia had submitted 35 technical questions concerning the prawn trade to seek further clarification following an initial assessment of the information provided by Thailand, before finalising any risk assessment.
As for the sea bass trade, he said the two neighbouring countries were refining several import requirements, including those related to certification, food safety and risk management.
Adnan said Malaysia had also put forward several proposals to strengthen technical cooperation, including harmonising certification requirements, enhancing traceability systems, sharing scientific data and adopting a more risk-based inspection mechanism.
"Malaysia hopes this approach will pave the way for a review of the 100 per cent sampling requirement for sea bass exporters with good compliance records, while exploring mechanisms such as green lanes for farms that meet food safety and biosecurity standards,” he said.
Adnan stressed that all decisions taken by Malaysia would be based on scientific risk assessments and international standards.
"Once all the necessary technical information is received, the assessment process will be expedited to facilitate smoother trade and safeguard the interests of the country’s aquaculture industry,” he said.
Adnan said that through the negotiations, Malaysia also hoped to resolve the issue of Thailand’s ban on Malaysian prawns, which has been in effect since 2017, through a common technical approach that would create more balanced market access for the aquaculture industries of both countries.
"The government, through the Fisheries Department, will continue to work with relevant ministries and agencies to strengthen export market access while assisting operators in improving compliance with export standards, traceability systems and biosecurity practices to meet international market requirements,” he said.
On Thursday (July 9), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his Thai counterpart Anutin Charnvirakul agreed to expedite the resolution of outstanding fisheries market access issues during a meeting held in conjunction with Anutin’s official visit to Malaysia.
On May 16, Malaysia tightened import controls on Thai fisheries products by requiring Certificates of Analysis (CoA) for sea bass and imposing a temporary import restriction on five specific shrimp species.
The temporary restriction covers Penaeus esculentes (brown tiger prawn), Fenneropenaeus merguiensis (banana prawn), Penaeus vannamei (whiteleg shrimp), Penaeus monodon (giant tiger prawn) and Penaeus stylirostris (blue shrimp).
Thailand is among the key markets for Malaysian sea bass exports, with bilateral trade reaching RM92.6 million involving 9,286 tonnes in 2024, while trade value recorded up to 2025 stood at RM42.6mil involving 4,320 tonnes. - Bernama
