Bangladesh’s Seafood Exports and the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures

This research paper discusses the sea food sector with a specific reference to shrimp export from Bangladesh, the WTO and SPS measures. In the last about three decades, export of shrimp from Bangladesh has been fairly high and promising, with the export value rising from $250 million in the year 2000 to $ 650 million in the year 2023. However, the industry has received a considerable amount of opposition mainly the ban implemented by the Europeans Union (EU) and the United States due to issues on contamination and set standards on environmental conservation. The Dispute Settlement Mechanism of WTO, especially in the case Shrimp Turtle has been the center of operation in solving conflict within and between the countries with regard to trade issues and protection of rights as well as Straight, health and environmental concerns. This paper also describes the impacts of these SPS challenges on Bangladesh and its reactions through the enhancement of processing standards, worker awareness, and conformity to the global standards. Moreover, the research includes policy implications for Bangladesh for better competitive advantage such as the improvement of testing facilities and infrastructure, improvement of workforce capabilities, and more engagement and participation in WTO talks. Finally, the paper sustains the finding with the evidence that Bangladesh seafood industry can sustain if it complies with the SPS measures appropriately and engage in the WTO trade negotiations to protect fair access to the global markets.