HYDE-SMITH ASKS USDA TO STOP UNLAWFUL CATFISH SNACKS FROM ASIAN COUNTRIES
Miss. Senator Targets Products like “Fried Crispy Fish Skin Snacks” that Violate U.S. Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to intensify efforts to stop illegally exported catfish-based products, such as fried crispy fish skin snacks, from entering the country and being stocked on U.S. grocery shelves.
Hyde-Smith on Thursday issued a letter to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) that encourages the agency to look further into efforts by Asian countries to circumvent Federal Meat Inspection Act requirements on imported catfish and catfish products.
“Recent recalls involving FSIS-regulated catfish products confirm that Asian nations are violating legal restrictions placed on catfish imports, which is a food safety matter for American consumers and an economic concern for domestic catfish producers,” said Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.
Hyde-Smith is taking issue with ready-to-eat fish products sold as “salted egg fish skins” or “fried crispy fish skin snacks” in U.S. markets today.
Under current law, the United States only accepts “raw product” catfish imports from China, Thailand, and Vietnam. Singapore may not export any catfish products to the United States. The Federal Meat Inspection Act disallows importing and marketing any ready-to-eat catfish products from any of these nations.
Hyde-Smith commended recalls issued by the FSIS in December and January on more than 34,000 pounds of ready-to-eat catfish products from Thailand and Singapore—a nation barred from exporting anything catfish related to the United States.
“I commend FSIS Administrator Rottenberg and her team at USDA for the job they do to implement the USDA catfish inspection program, for both domestic and imported catfish. Our domestic establishments are in compliance, while thousands of pounds of imported product is turned away each month for failing to comply with laws and regulations under FSIS jurisdiction,” Hyde-Smith said.
“This disguised new effort by foreign countries to export ineligible catfish products to the United States is just another example of why Congress transferred inspection responsibilities to USDA, and I am confident the FSIS is up to the challenge,” she said.
A copy of the Hyde-Smith letter to FSIS is available here.
###