This morning, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published detailed data regarding forty (40) seafood entry line refusals in September, of which three (7.5%) were for shrimp for reasons related to banned antibiotics, along with an additional eight entry line refusals of shrimp for the same reasons in August that were not previously reported.
As shown in the chart below, with a quarter of the calendar year left, entry line refusals of shrimp for banned antibiotics in 2024 already are at the second-highest annual amount reported by the agency since 2017.
The eight additional entry lines of shrimp refused for banned antibiotics in August and the three entry lines of shrimp refused for veterinary drug residues in September were attributed to shipments of shrimp from two different Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)-certified shrimp processors in Vietnam and India:
- Thuan Phuoc Seafoods and Trading Corporation (Vietnam), a company that currently operates under a four-star BAP certification for its processing plant (P10196), with an additional BAP certification for a related shrimp farm (F10228), and that is not currently listed on Import Alert 16-124 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Aquaculture Seafood Products Due to Unapproved Drugs”) or Import Alert 16-129 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Seafood Products Due to Nitrofurans”) or Import Alert 16-127 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of All Seafood Due to Chloramphenicol”), had one entry line refused for breaded shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues by the Division of West Coast Imports on August 28, 2024, had another seven entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues by the Division of West Coast Imports on August 28, 2024, and had one more entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues by the Division of Northern Border Imports on September 4, 2024; and
- Avanti Frozen Foods Private Limited (India), a company that currently operates two processing plants under four-star BAP certifications (P10131 and P10689), with additional BAP certifications for related shrimp farms (F11393, F11757, and F10433), and that was added to Import Alert 16-127 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of All Seafood Due to Chloramphenicol”), had two entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with chloramphenicol by the Division of Northeast Imports on September 23, 2024.
Although Thuan Phuoc Seafoods and Trading Corporation is not currently listed on any of the relevant Import Alerts, the FDA updated Import Alert 16-124 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Aquaculture Seafood Products Due to Unapproved Drugs”) on September 30, 2024 to now list the Indonesian shrimp processor and exporter Timur Laut BMSfood for enrofloxacin and oxytetracycline in its shrimp. Timur Laut BMSfood also currently operates under a four-star BAP certification for its processing plant (P10991).
Further, the FDA also revised Import Alert 16-127 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of All Seafood Due to Chloramphenicol”) on September 19, 2024 to no longer apply just to imports of crustaceans, but to now cover imports of all seafood contaminated with this particular antibiotic. The agency’s expansion of Import Alert 16-127 follows the FDA’s listing on May 2, 2024 of the Chinese seafood processor and exporter Hainan Eternal Spring Fisheries Co., Ltd. for chloramphenicol in its tilapia on Import Alert 16-124 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Aquaculture Seafood Products Due to Unapproved Drugs”). Accordingly, the FDA now consolidates all findings regarding chloramphenicol in seafood on a specialized Import Alert (16-127), consistent with how the agency treats another specific type of antibiotic, nitrofurans, under Import Alert 16-129 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Seafood Products Due to Nitrofurans”).
Finally, the FDA again reported refusing an entry line of Indonesian shrimp for being short-weighted in September. Mega Marine Pride, an Indonesian shrimp exporter that currently operates under a four-star BAP certification for its processing plant (P10071), had an entry line of shrimp refused for “added bulk” by the Division of Northeast Imports on September 23, 2024. In August, the company had had two different entry lines of shrimp refused by the two different regional FDA divisions (West Coast and Northeast) for the same reasons.