Despite steady demand from Japan, Indonesian seafood exporters still find it difficult meet export standards

Despite receiving a considerably high demand for seafood from Japan, Indonesian seafood exporters still find it challenging to export their products to Japan. As a part of the export procedure to Japan, the supplier must also include at least two required certifications such as Good Aquaculture Practice (GAP) and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), which can take a long time to obtain in Indonesia. These certifications have been made mandatory by most Japanese buyers as they need to ensure that the quality of the imported seafood is up to par with the basic standard that the Japanese government has set up in order to determine that the seafood is safe to consume. Aside from tuna, the required certifications also apply to some of the most demanded seafood commodities such as squid, octopus, and snapper.