HYDE-SMITH INTRODUCES ‘SAFER SHRIMP IMPORTS ACT’
Legislation Fits President’s MAHA Goals with Stricter FDA Inspection Requirements of Shrimp Imports
WASHINGTON, D.C. – With 90 percent Americans’ shrimp consumption coming from foreign sources, U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) has introduced legislation to ensure the quality of imported shrimp and significantly strengthen federal inspection standards of those imports.
The Safer Shrimp Imports Act (S.667) would require overseas shrimp facility inspections and require foreign countries wishing to export shrimp to the United States to meet food safety inspection standards equivalent to those of U.S. shrimp producers.
“There are three key reasons why this bill is urgently needed. First, it would give American consumers greater confidence that the imported shrimp they’re eating isn’t contaminated with drugs. Second, it aligns with the President’s Make American Healthy Again goals to eliminate harmful chemicals in the food supply. And third, it will help level the playing field for American shrimpers who suffer because foreign governments dump their subsidized and tainted shrimp on the U.S. market,” Senator Hyde-Smith said.
“The FDA has been lackadaisical about seafood inspection for far too long, contributing to a silent public health crisis in America. I look forward to working with the President and HHS Secretary Kennedy to make shrimp healthy again,” the Senator added.
S.667 seeks to:
- Require foreign governments with shrimp facilities seeking to export shrimp to the United States to demonstrate to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) an equivalent food inspection system to that of the United States.
- Deem any shrimp imported or offered for import into the United States from a country that has not met the above requirement adulterated (i.e., cannot be sold or consumed in the U.S.).
- Require regular reporting by the FDA to Congress on their implementation of these activities.
Because the FDA currently tests only a small percentage of seafood imports for drugs or other contaminants banned in U.S.-produced shrimp, the Safer Shrimp Imports Act would also effectively require the FDA to meet the same standards of international equivalence required of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for foreign catfish imports. “International equivalence” is considered the leading standard for evaluating different countries’ food safety inspection systems.
The American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) has worked closely with Hyde-Smith on shrimp safety issues for many years and ASPA President Trey Pearson applauded the bill’s introduction.
“We have worked hard for nearly a decade to ensure foreign shrimp producers comply with the same stringent health and safety requirements as our domestic producers. Senator Hyde-Smith’s ongoing attention to these issues is critical, and her introduction of the Safer Shrimp Imports Act brings us one step closer to necessary equivalence in health and safety standards,” Pearson said.
S.667 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
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