Under the All India Network Project on Fish Health (AINP_FH), ICAR-CIBA, Chennai organised a brainstorming workshop on regulating the use of chemicals and veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) in Indian aquaculture at NAAS Complex, ICAR, New Delhi during 25-26 August 2022. The AINP_FH project funded by ICAR is developing standards for the use of chemicals, biologicals and VMPs in the country. This nationally important meeting was presided by Dr. J.K. Jena, Deputy Director General (Fy.), ICAR, New Delhi. The chief guest was Shri. Sagar Mehra, Joint Secretory, DoF, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, GoI. In his address, Joint Secretary emphasized the need to provide quality aquaculture inputs to farmers to ensure safe fish production. In the presidential address, Dr. J.K. Jena, DDG (Fy.) highlighted the need for regulatory policies backed by strong scientific data. He also stressed the need for concerted cooperation among the agencies to achieve higher production, supplying quality fish and fishery products both to domestic and international consumers. In his inaugural address, Dr. K.P. Jithendran, Director, ICAR-CIBA, mentioned the efforts of CIBA and other institutes in developing standards for aquatic animal health management in the country. The workshop was attended by officials from Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA), Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Central Drugs Standards Control Organization (CDSCO) in addition to Chairmen of different technical committees of FSSAI. The workshop had five technical sessions covering role of regulatory agencies and promotional agencies in regulating the chemicals and VMPs. A special session on international guidelines, environmental safety and research priorities was arranged. The program ended with recommendations for implementation by different agencies. The meeting participants included Dr. C.N. Ravishankar, Director and Vice Chancellor, ICAR-CIFE, Mumbai, Dr. Riji John, Vice Chancellor, KUFOS, Kochi, subject matter experts in food safety, aquaculture medicine and Co-PIs of AINP_FH from different partner institutes. Dr. P.K. Patil, Principal Scientist and Coordinator of AINP_FH proposed the vote of thanks.
