Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released detailed data regarding eighty-three (83) seafood entry line refusals in October.
Ten of these October refusals related to rejections of shrimp entry lines from an Indonesian exporter, PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (BMS), following the detection of Cs-137 in some of these shipments. In total, the FDA reported 417 entry line refusals of shrimp exported from Indonesia by BMS in September and October.
Of the remaining seventy-three (73) seafood entry line refusals in October, ten (13.7%) were for shrimp for reasons related to banned antibiotics. The FDA also released detailed information regarding another six entry lines of shrimp refused for the presence of veterinary drug residues in September that had not been previously formally reported.
The FDA has now reported refusing a total of eighty-five (85) entry lines of shrimp for reasons related to veterinary drug residues in the first ten months of 2025. With two months left in this calendar year, the FDA has already refused more entry lines of shrimp for banned antibiotics in any year since 2016. This is the sixth highest total for shrimp entry line refusals related to veterinary drug residues over the last twenty-four years.
The sixteen newly reported entry lines of shrimp refused for veterinary drug residues in September and October were attributed to shipments from six different exporters in China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. As noted below, five of the six exporters are Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)-certified shrimp processors:
- PT. Pabrik Lamongan BMI (Indonesia), a company that currently operates under a four-star BAP certification for its processing plant (P10680) and that was added to Import Alert 16-129 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Seafood Products Due to Nitrofurans”) on June 12, 2025 for the presence of nitrofurans in its non-breaded shrimp and on June 30, 2025 for the presence of nitrofurans in its breaded shrimp, had two entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans and veterinary drug residues by the Division of West Coast Imports on September 25, 2025, one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans and veterinary drug residues by the Division of West Coast Imports on September 29, 2025, two entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans and veterinary drug residues by the Division of West Coast Imports on September 30, 2025, and one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans and veterinary drug residues by the Division of West Coast Imports on October 14, 2025;
- PT. Tamron Akuatik Produk Industri (Indonesia), a company that currently operates under a four-star BAP certification for its processing plant (P10704) and that was added to Import Alert 16-129 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Seafood Products Due to Nitrofurans”) on August 28, 2025 for the presence of nitrofurans in its shrimp, had one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans and veterinary drug residues by the Division of Southeast Imports on October 7, 2025 and two entry lines refused for breaded shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues and nitrofurans (and for misbranding due to the failure to list an ingredient) by the Division of Southwest Imports on October 20, 2025;
- Falcon Marine Exports Ltd. (India), a company that currently operates under four-star BAP certifications for two processing plants (P10015 and P10647) with additional BAP certifications for over 70 shrimp farms and that was added to Import Alert 16-129 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Seafood Products Due to Nitrofurans”) on April 2, 2025 for the presence of nitrofurans in its shrimp, had two entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans and veterinary drug residues by the Division of Northeast Imports on October 15, 2025;
- An Phu Factory – Soc Trang Seafood Joint Stock Company (Stapimex) (Vietnam), a company that currently operates the An Phu factory under a four-star BAP certification (P10327) with an additional BAP certification for another processing plant (P10162) and multiple BAP certifications for related shrimp farms, and that was added to Import Alert 16-124 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Aquaculture Seafood Products Due to Unapproved Drugs”) on June 26, 2025 for the presence of amoxicillin in its shrimp, had two entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues by the Division of West Coast Imports on October 1, 2025;
- Bac Lieu Fishery Joint Stock Company (Vietnam), a company that currently operates under a one-star processor BAP certification (P10577) and is not currently listed on Import Alert 16-124 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Aquaculture Seafood Products Due to Unapproved Drugs”), Import Alert 16-127 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of All Seafood Due to Chloramphenicol”), or Import Alert 16-129 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Seafood Products Due to Nitrofurans”), had one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans and veterinary drug residues by the Division of Southeast Imports on October 17, 2025; and
- Jiangmen Ziqiao Food Ltd. (China), a company that is not currently included on the “green” list for Import Alert 16-131 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Aquacultured Shrimp, Dace, and Eel from China and Hong Kong SAR – Presence of New Animal Drugs and/or Unsafe Food Additives”), had one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues and an unsafe food additive by the Division of West Coast Imports on October 3, 2025.
With the reporting of seven additional entry lines of Indonesian shrimp refused for reasons related to banned antibiotics, the FDA has now refused a total of 23 Indonesian shrimp entry lines for veterinary drug residues this year. Between 2002 and 2024, the FDA had only reported a grand total of 40 entry lines of Indonesian shrimp refused for banned antibiotics over those 23 years.