Jones Introduces Foreign Seafood Safety Act

Press Release

JONES INTRODUCES FOREIGN SEAFOOD SAFETY ACT

Third District Congressman Walter B. Jones (R-NC) today introduced H. R. 3077, the Foreign Seafood Safety Act of 2007, a bill to improve protection of America's seafood consumers from unsafe imports of foreign seafood. The bill would require nations wishing to export seafood into the U.S. to receive certification from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that their seafood safety and inspection programs are at least as protective of human health as such programs in the U.S. Only seafood from countries with these equivalency certifications would be allowed. The legislation would take effect one year after enactment to allow time for the FDA and industry to transition to the new system.

"The current scandal involving the discovery of uninspected, drug-tainted Chinese seafood in U.S. supermarkets is the latest example of a long-standing problem," Jones said.

"According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), America's lax system of inspecting imported seafood is not sufficiently protecting consumers," Congressman Jones said. "Eighty percent of seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported, but the FDA only tests less than 1% of imported seafood. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that every year, one in four Americans experiences a foodborne illness, and seafood products cause 18 to 20 percent of those illnesses."

"Unlike the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) regulation of imported meat, the FDA is not required to certify that countries exporting seafood to the U.S. have equivalent seafood safety systems," Jones continued. "Furthermore, the FDA has not followed multiple GAO recommendations to make such equivalency certifications."

"To make matters worse - the FDA predicts that imported food shipments will be 50 percent higher in 2007 than in 1999, but their food safety budget over the last five years has only risen eight percent. FDA funding for inspection of foreign seafood processing facilities is now zero," Jones said. "Increased resources for the FDA are necessary, but not sufficient."

"If the USDA is required to certify that countries wishing to export beef to America have safety and inspection programs that are equivalent to ours, the FDA should do the same for seafood," Jones concluded. "This legislation would protect American consumers by ensuring that imported seafood is as safely produced as U.S. seafood."

Source