WOAH's approval of Peru's self-declaration as a country free of four diseases affecting whiteleg shrimp is an important commercial tool.
Photo: Produce.
The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) approved Peru's self-declaration as a country free of four diseases affecting whiteleg shrimp. Peru's Ministry of Production (Produce) received the approval through the country's National Fisheries Health Agency (Sanipes) after providing evidence of compliance with the WOAH Aquatic Animal Health Code guidelines.
Specifically, Sanipes reported that Peru declared itself free of Taura Syndrome Virus (TSV), Decapod Iridescent Virus 1 (DIV1), Infectious Myonecrosis Virus (IMNV), and Yellow Head Virus Genotype 1 (YHV1), which affect whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei, synonym Litopenaeus vannamei), also known as Pacific white shrimp or King prawn, a species of the eastern Pacific Ocean commonly caught or farmed for food.
Peru's National Fisheries Health Agency began the self-declaration process during the first quarter of 2024 through the National Agricultural Health Service (Senasa), the entity that represents the country before WOAH. The objective was to obtain recognition before this world organization and its member countries, in order to promote transparency and facilitate the shrimp trade.
Self-declarations are the result of surveillance of the absence of infectious diseases for at least the last two years, as well as the specific legal health framework implemented, diagnostic capacity, prevention, notification, and early response measures, early prevention mechanisms, and biosecurity measures implemented by a country's aquaculture production centers.
They are also a useful tool since they facilitate negotiations with other countries by having sanitary measures that provide a worldwide guarantee that the country presenting them is free of some declared disease. This benefits aquaculture operators by making it possible for their hydrobiological products to access new international markets.
As said, the self-declarations made by member countries to WOAH are important commercial tools, since they make it possible to visualize the sanitary status at a global level on the absence of a notifiable disease before the World Organisation for Animal Health in a given zone, compartment or country, in this case, Peru.
Therefore, the executive president of Sanipes, Monica Saavedra Chumbe, said the publication of the self-declarations to WOAH is a great achievement for the Peruvian shrimp sector, as it strengthens its sanitary conditions. "This allows Peru to start negotiations with international markets," she said.
According to Produce, in 2023, Peru’s shrimp value chain recorded a FOB value (this is 'Free On Board', representing the cost of goods at the point of shipment or loading excluding insurance and freight costs) of USD 274.3 million (EUR 251.8 million).
Shrimp harvests in the country reached 39,348 metric tons (MT) and frozen exports reached 32,896 gross metric tons (GMT), concentrated in the departments of Tumbes and Piura, which harvested 82% (32,302 MT) and 18% (7,046 MT), respectively.