Quality Control Checklist for Live Crabs From Bangladesh

Use this checklist to check a live crab consignment before it leaves Bangladesh and again when it lands: vitality, species and shell, weight, claw tying, holding, packing, documents and arrival. Codex CXC 52-2003 covers live crab handling in Section 15B.¹ If you are still setting up the order, work through how to import live crabs from Bangladesh first.

Why this checklist matters

A live crab is judged alive: the buyer pays freight on every animal shipped, not only on those that arrive saleable. Codex states that crabs deteriorate more rapidly than fish and that care in maintaining them live is strongly recommended.¹ The export product is the mud crab, Scylla serrata, widely distributed in brackish coastal waters and estuaries, per BFRI research.²

A written checklist turns arrival condition into evidence: each animal is recorded against the purchase order, so a loss can be traced to one stage. Set grade bands, packing format and the loss threshold in the purchase order. No universal survival percentage is stated, because none applies across grades, routes and seasons.

Before you start

Do not begin until the references are complete: the purchase order naming species, sex, grade bands, meat or gonad condition and wild or fattened supply, the packing specification, the flight booking, and the destination documents.

Confirm airline acceptance on the exact flight before packing. The IATA Live Animals Regulations (LAR) govern live animal air shipments, covering carrier and government regulations, documentation, and container requirements including stocking density and labelling.³

Confirm the certificate route: the Department of Fisheries e-certification system covers licences, health certificates and additional certificates per the importing country's requirements, with inspection and test reports.⁴

Name the destination market. Singapore (Food Agency) places crabs in Fish and Fish Products: check high-risk and CITES status and keep labels complete.⁵ The European Union requires authorised-country approval, an approved establishment, health certificates and health control.⁶ Hong Kong (Centre for Food Safety): marine importers should obtain origin health certificates certifying fitness for human consumption.⁷

Prepare calibrated scales, a carton record, tying material and a camera.

The full checklist (numbered, printable)

Vitality and reception grading

1. Inspect every animal on receipt. Under Codex Section 15B.3.1.1, live crabs should be inspected upon receipt to ensure they are alive, demonstrated by active leg movement.¹

2. Grade vitality animal by animal and record it: active, weak and dead, kept separate.

3. Reject dead animals at intake and record the count per lot. Under Codex Section 15B.3.1.1, any dead crabs should be discarded.¹

4. Sort out the defects Codex names at reception in Section 15B.3.1.1: weak or injured crabs, ecto-parasites and black shell.¹

5. Hold weak animals apart for a purchase-order decision. Never mix them into export grades to make up weight.

Species, sex and shell condition

6. Confirm species against the purchase order, Scylla serrata or Scylla olivacea, animal by animal. Keep other species out.

7. Confirm sex against the ordered mix per grade and record the count per carton. A wrong sex mix is a grade failure.

8. Check the shell animal by animal: cracks, punctures, soft shell where the order excludes it, black shell and surface damage. Reject damaged shells.

9. Check meat and gonad condition on fattened orders. In the BFRI study, gonad development was checked by placing crabs in front of electric light or strong sunlight.² A lean and a fattened animal of the same weight are different goods.

10. Record wild-collected and fattened animals separately where the order separates them. Never blend the two to complete a grade.

Weight, grade and count per carton

11. Weigh each animal individually on calibrated scales and sort it into the purchase order grade band. Grade bands are contract figures set per order.

12. Count animals as you pack, and record count, grade, sex and weight on the carton record the arrival check scores against.

13. Re-weigh sample cartons after packing against the carton record and packing list, and check that no carton mixes grades or sexes outside the ordered mix.

Claw tying and limb condition

14. Check that each animal's claws are tied or banded before holding or packing. Codex Section 15B.2.2 states that species which mutilate each other should have claws banded as soon as possible after catching.¹

15. Use the tying method named in the specification and check each tie. In the BFRI study, at harvest the pincers of each crab were bound with straw or string.²

16. Count limbs and claws against the purchase order. Codex Section 15B.2.2 warns that crab legs are easily broken, and that damage can cause infection and weakening, so handle live crabs with care at all times.¹

17. Reject animals with missing claws or broken legs from grades requiring complete animals; record them as an intake outcome.

Holding before packing

18. Hold animals by grade and sex for the shortest time the flight plan allows, recording intake and packing times per lot.

19. Where animals are held in water, follow Codex Section 15B.3.1.2: live crabs should be stored in circulated seawater and fresh water, as appropriate, at temperatures of their natural environment or slightly lower.¹

20. Check holding at set intervals, remove dead animals at each check, and record count and time. Under Codex Section 15B.3.1.2, dead crabs should be rejected and disposed of properly, and tanks and wells should ensure survival, per Section 15B.2.2.¹

Packing, moisture and temperature in the carton

21. Run the pre-packing check animal by animal just before packing: vitality, limbs, grade, sex and tying again, because holding changes the animal intake passed.

22. Pack only into clean packing of the named format. Codex Section 15B.2.2 lists clean tanks, wells, crates, openweave bags, or boxes covered with wet sacking, prefers clean hessian or jute bags, and states woven synthetic bags should not be used.¹

23. Check moisture carton by carton: packing damp as specified, not dry, not dripping, no pooled water. Codex Section 15B.2.2 requires care to maintain the necessary humidity in transport bags, and precautions against suffocation from slime or mud.¹

24. Record packing temperature against the purchase order figure for your species and route. Codex Section 15B.2.2 states that live crabs packed as above should be held at a temperature as close as possible to 0 °C (processing context). Name the transit condition for a tropical mud crab in the order.¹

25. Check carton condition and closure: clean, dry outside, undamaged, ventilated as airline acceptance requires, marked as live animals with species, grade, count and weight.³

26. Check product temperature before loading. Codex Section 21 directs handlers to check temperature before loading, avoid exposure to elevated temperatures in loading and unloading, and monitor cargo-hold air temperatures.¹

Documents, labels and flight handover

27. Match the health certificate to this consignment: exporter, species, grades, carton count and destination must agree with the carton records.⁴

28. Match the destination file before handover: for Singapore, high-risk and CITES checks and complete labels;⁵ for the European Union, authorised country, approved establishment and health certificate;⁶ for Hong Kong, the health certificate.⁷

29. Record the handover: airline, flight number, acceptance time and carton count,³ and send the buyer the pre-shipment pack the same day: carton records, packing list, certificate copy, air waybill and photographs.

Arrival inspection and claims evidence

30. Open cartons promptly on arrival and record condition carton by carton: active, weak, dead and damaged counted separately, with time from landing recorded.

31. Photograph each opened carton before animals are moved, then weak, dead and damaged animals grouped by carton. Record carton damage, dry or saturated packing, heat or cold exposure, and any delay on the waybill.

32. Compare depot and arrival records line by line, agree the result against the purchase order loss threshold, and send the signed record and photographs to the exporter the same day.

Common failures and how to fix them

The most frequent failure is weak animals packed to complete a grade, shown on arrival as deaths spread evenly across cartons. Stop it at the pre-packing check: re-grade vitality animal by animal, hold weak animals out, and pack short rather than pack weak.

Next is claw and limb damage from loose tying or rough handling. Re-tie before the carton closes, and record limb condition at packing so arrival damage can be separated from intake damage. Dry cartons trace to packing too early or an unchecked moisture method: pack to the flight. Correct certificate or label mismatches before handover.

Downloadable template and summary table

Copy this table into your inspection sheet, add your grade bands, packing format and loss threshold, and record the count per line.

How Exportain helps

Exportain is a B2B marketplace connecting buyers with Bangladeshi suppliers of live crabs and seafood, so this specification can be agreed at the enquiry stage. Browse suppliers, read the frozen seafood sourcing guide and use inspection services to plan the check. Supplier profiles show document and photo checks recorded, not factory inspections. Exportain is not a party to the goods contract and does not inspect goods.

FAQs

When should this checklist be used?

Use it twice: at the depot, from intake to handover, and again on arrival, carton by carton. For first orders, run it on a trial consignment first.

Who should complete it?

The exporter completes the depot sections animal by animal; the buyer or the buyer's agent completes the arrival section. An inspector can complete either side if the grade bands, specification and loss threshold are shared first.

What are the most common failures?

Weak animals packed to complete a grade, loose claw tying with limb damage, dry packing, and a certificate or label that does not match the consignment.

Can a third party do it?

Yes, if you share the purchase order, grade bands, specification and arrival format first, and the inspector records counts per carton, not a summary pass.

Next steps on Exportain

Agree grade bands, packing format, transit condition and loss threshold in the purchase order, then read how to import live crabs from Bangladesh and the pre-shipment inspection guide, and plan the check with inspection services. Post a free RFQ via RFQs to compare quotes.