The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported refusing 112 seafood entry lines in June 2015. Of these, 29 (26%) were of shrimp entry lines refused for reasons related to banned antibiotics.
Through the first half of 2015, the FDA has now refused a total of 232 entry lines of shrimp products for reasons related to banned antibiotics. There have now been more shrimp entry lines refused in 2015 than any previous year for which data are available through the FDA’s Operational and Administrative System for Import Support (OASIS) database.
With only one exception, the entry line refusals for June were of shrimp shipped from Malaysia:
- Fishergold Cold Storage Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia), a company listed on Import Alert 16-129 for nitrofurans on March 10, 2015 but not currently listed on Import Alert 16-124, had twelve entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans and salmonella and another five entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans, veterinary drug residues, and salmonella, all in the Southwest Import District;
- Ocean Vision Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia), a company listed on Import Alert 16-129 for nitrofurans on June 9, 2015 but not currently listed on Import Alert 16-124, had five entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans and that was also mislabeled for failing to bear the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor, all in the Los Angeles District;
- Ria Budimas Trading (Malaysia), a company listed on Import Alert 16-129 for nitrofurans on March 2, 2015 at two different addresses but not currently listed on Import Alert 16-124, had two entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans and two more entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with both nitrofurans and veterinary drug residues, all in the Southwest Import District;
- Lean Heng Huat Fishery (Malaysia), a company listed on Import Alert 16-129 for nitrofurans on March 10, 2015 and listed on Import Alert 16-124 on March 13, 2015 (for chloramphenicol), had one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with both nitrofurans and veterinary drug residues in the Los Angeles District;
- Omega Frozen Seafood Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia), a company not currently listed on either Import Alert 16-124 or Import Alert 16-129, had one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans and veterinary drug residues in the Southwest Import District; and
- Forstar Frozen Foods Pvt. Ltd. (India), a company currently listed on Import Alert 16-124 for chloramphenicol on December 23, 2014 but not currently listed on Import Alert 16-129, had one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues in the New Orleans District.
For the year, the FDA has reported refusing 166 entry lines of shrimp shipped from Malaysia for reasons related to veterinary drug residues, 30 entry lines of shrimp shipped from Vietnam, 26 entry lines of shrimp shipped from India, 9 entry lines of shrimp shipped from China, and 1 entry line of shrimp shipped from Indonesia.