For several years Oceana has been working on a campaign to open information and reduce the use of antibiotics in the salmon industry in Chile

Mowi appeals to the Constitutional Court for ruling on antibiotic data

The marine conservation organization Oceana qualifies the decision of Mowi (former Marine Harvest) to present an appeal of inapplicability before the Constitutional Court (TC), as "regrettable and a dilatory mechanism" to deliver information on the use of antibiotics by the salmon company.

Oceana stresses that the multinational company of Norwegian capital seeks to overturn the decision of the Council for Transparency that forced it to provide figures on their use of antibiotics between 2015 and 2017, and that is the only in the sector to resort to this instance.

Oceana campaign to raise awareness among the consmidor and authorities about the danger of excess antibiotics in Chilean salmon. Click on the photo to enlarge

"The attitude of Marine Harvest is regrettable considering that, with this, all it does is delay the delivery of information and deny the legitimate access that consumers have to know how salmon is produced in the south of the country," said Javiera Calisto, director of the Oceana's Marine Pollution Campaign in Chile.

"The bill that is being processed in Congress today seeks to keep the information updated and permanent for the public, avoiding situations like this," he added.

The bill referred to stipulates that the salmon producers must deliver the data on the production and use of antibiotics in a disaggregated manner, by company and farming center, to the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (SERNAPESCA), which will have the obligation to publish them so that every natural person has free access to them.

Oceana recalls that in February 2018, it requested SERNAPESCA, via transparency law, the quantity and class of antibiotics used by the company and by the culture center, together with the biomass produced during the years 2015, 2016 and 2017. Of a total of 24 companies, 18 refused to provide the data, after which the NGO turned to the Council for Transparency. This entity determined last August that the information was public, giving the reason to the marine conservation organization.

After the resolution, most of the companies complied with the ruling, allowing Oceana to access the information, with the exception of then-named Marine Harvest and Ventisqueros, which filed claims of illegality before the Court of Appeals. Now, the Norwegian company also added the appeal of inapplicability submitted to the TC, which has not yet been admitted.

"After many years of judicial disputes, several companies in the industry have understood the importance of transparency and have delivered the information through the auditing authority, which is how it should be," said Calisto. "But to be able to measure the real state of the use of antibiotics, the commitment of the entire industry is needed," she added.

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