This morning, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released detailed data regarding fifty-eight (58) seafood entry line refusals in November, of which three (5.2%) were for shrimp for reasons related to banned antibiotics, along with an additional entry line refusal of shrimp for the same reason in October that was not previously reported.
As shown in the chart below, with one more month of the calendar year left, entry line refusals of shrimp for banned antibiotics in 2024 were higher than the total annual amount of entry line refusals reported in each of the last seven years.
The additional entry line of shrimp refused for banned antibiotics in October and the three entry lines of shrimp refused for veterinary drug residues in November were attributed to shipments of shrimp from four different exporters, of which two were Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)-certified shrimp processors in India:
- EB Frozen Food Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia), a company that is not currently included on the “green” list for Import Alert 16-136 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Aquacultured Shrimp and Prawn Products in all Market Forms from Peninsular Malaysia Due to the Presence of Unapproved Animal Drugs or Unsafe Food Additives”), had one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues by the Division of West Coast Imports on October 29, 2024;
- Wing Cheong Marine Product (Hong Kong), 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 unsafe additives and veterinary drug residues by the Division of West Coast Imports on November 12, 2024;
- GEO Seafoods (India), a company that currently operates under a four-star BAP certification for its processing plant (P10537), with additional BAP certifications for related shrimp farms (F12439, F12552A, F12552B, and F12552C), and that was added to Import Alert 16-127 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of All Seafood Due to Chloramphenicol”) on October 29, 2024 for the presence of chloramphenicol in its shrimp, had one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with chloramphenicol by the Division of Northeast Imports on November 8, 2024; and
- Asvini Fisheries (India), a company that currently operates under a four-star BAP certification for two processing plants (P10168 and P10353), with additional BAP certifications for a related hatchery and shrimp farms, 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 shrimp contaminated with chloramphenicol by the Division of West Coast Imports on November 20, 2024.
In addition, a shipment of shrimp from Allied Kinpacific Hong Kong Co Limited (Hong Kong) was refused by the Division of West Coast Imports on October 30, 2024 for the presence of an unsafe additive. Because Allied Kinpacific 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”), this refusal is likely due to the company’s failure to take steps necessary to be included on the “green” list.
Finally, the FDA again reported refusing entry lines of Indonesian shrimp for being short-weighted in November. Specifically, entry lines of shrimp from the Indonesian companies Mega Marine Pride and PT Bumi Pangan Utama were refused for “added bulk” by the Division of West Coast Imports in November. Both companies currently operate under four-star BAP certifications for their processing plants (PT Bumi Pangan (P10605) and PT. Mega Marine Pride (P10071)). Neither company is currently listed on Import Alert 99-47 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Human Food Products that Appear to Be Adulterated for Economic Gain”). Although PT Bumi Pangan Utama had been listed on Import Alert 99-47 for its shipments of shrimp beginning on June 27, 2024, a revised Import Alert was published on November 25, 2024 and PT Bumi Pangan Utama no longer appears on the list.