A qualitative study on fishery export refusals due to food safety concerns:
identification of product handling, corrective actions, risk factors, and risk
mitigation

Producers are the parties most affected by export rejection due to food safety concerns.
This study used a qualitative approach to identify the handling of refused products,
corrective actions, risk factors, and mitigations. A semi-structured questionnaire was
developed to ask twelve Fishery Processing Units (FPUs) which produce various products,
such as shrimp, tuna, cephalopods, crabs, frogs, and other fish from various provinces in
Indonesia, as well as four producer associations. The result of the study showed the
handling of refused products, comprising reimportation, laboratory analysis, product
destruction, re-exportation, sales to the local markets, and conversion into feed, was found
to be expensive. The total cost incurred may reach 400 million rupiahs (more or less USD
28,000) for a single rejection. Moreover, those costs did not include investment for
corrective actions in improving the production system. Therefore, preventive actions were
still proven to be important to prevent greater losses, by identifying risk factors in
production steps and formulating mitigation strategies. Bacterial pathogens and
contamination by heavy metals and food contact materials were the common risk factors
for tuna, shrimp, and cephalopods. Mitigation strategies may include hygienic and rapid
production with the application of cold chains to prevent the growth of microbiological
hazards and stave off subsequent contamination. In addition to the selection of safe areas
for aquaculture and fishing, the use of safe food contact materials and the proper use of
antimicrobials were employed as mitigation measures for chemical hazards.