The Southern Shrimp Alliance welcomes the recent milestone towards giving the FDA the power to destroy imported products that pose a significant public health risk.
On Wednesday, the Health Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce met for a markup of ten different bills, including the Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act (H.R. 2715).
At the markup, Congressman Troy Carter (D-LA) – one of the original sponsors of the bipartisan bill along with Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) – offered an amendment to the bill that incorporates input from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The updated bill provides the agency with authority to order the destruction of FDA-regulated imported merchandise that is refused entry into the United States due to a significant risk to public health, and gives importers the right to appeal such orders. In his comments to the Subcommittee regarding the need for the legislation, Representative Carter thanked the FDA for its productive partnership with Congress in refining the legislation.
The Health Subcommittee passed the amended bill by voice vote, sending it to the full House Committee on Energy and Commerce for consideration.
Why this bill is needed
Under current law, exporters can ship contaminated merchandise to the United States, withdraw the merchandise if flagged by the FDA, and try to bring it in later at a different port. This practice, known as “port shopping,” exploits the FDA’s weak inspection system and allows contaminated foods—particularly seafood—to reach American plates even after federal regulators have already rejected them.
The problem extends beyond food. At the Subcommittee’s hearing on the bill in March, experts testified as to the need to close a loophole in existing law. Congressman Carter noted a rise in the exportation of dangerous vape devices and counterfeit drugs to the United States, often with no consequences for the exporters. The Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act closes this loophole and disincentivizes foreign companies from shipping dangerous merchandise to the United States in the first instance.
Congressman Carter’s comments emphasized the widespread support for the bill. He noted that obtaining the authority to order the destruction of goods that pose a significant public health risk has been an objective of the FDA under both the Biden and Trump Administrations. He also underscored that the legislation was supported by a broad group of industries and public advocacy groups, including the Southern Shrimp Alliance, the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation, the Partnership for Safe Medicines, the National Association of State Controlled Substances Authorities, and the National Consumers League.
Shrimp Industry Response to the Health Subcommittee’s Markup
The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) welcomes the markup session and thanks Congressman Troy Carter and the other members of the Health Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce for prioritizing a bill that will protect American consumers and level the playing field for American seafood producers.
“All U.S. shrimpers owe a debt of gratitude for the continued bipartisan leadership of Congressman Troy Carter and Congressman Clay Higgins to get contaminated foreign shrimp out of our market,” said Blake Price, director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “The Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act has broad support because Americans of all stripes want to see imported food that poses significant public health risks destroyed and they all want to see this bizarre, illogical loophole closed. We applaud the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee for moving this critical legislation forward and urge all Members to support its passage.”
Closing the Port Shopping Loophole
The FDA itself has long recognized the dangers presented by this gap in existing law.
Beginning in Fiscal Year 2023, the FDA requested authority to require the destruction of imported products that pose a significant public health risk. The FDA repeated this request in Fiscal Year 2024 and in Fiscal Year 2025. In its Fiscal Year 2026 Legislative Priorities, the federal agency revised its explanation regarding the need for this authority to provide greater detail regarding the nature of its concerns, particularly with respect to contaminated seafood:
“The Agency has observed importers exporting or attempting to re-import commercial-sized shipments that pose a significant public health concern including food contaminated with Salmonella, Listeria and carcinogenic unapproved animal drugs; human drugs such as hand sanitizer contaminated with methanol; and misbranded or adulterated devices such as contact lenses, COVID-19 test kits, and personal protective equipment. In May 2023, a high-volume importer/wholesaler pled guilty to attempting to re-import 2100 cartons of frozen eels from China that were refused by FDA because testing confirmed contamination with a carcinogenic unapproved animal drug. FDA believes this new authority would prevent reimportation of refused products and would deter importers from seeking to import products they know or have reason to believe would pose a significant public health risk and could be ordered destroyed.”
Most recently, the FDA has again renewed its request for this legislative authority in its Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Justification.
The problem extends beyond seafood. During a recent hearing before the Health Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce about the Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act, Dr. Nabarun Dasgupta, Senior Scientist and Gillings Innovation Fellow at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, testified that port shopping is “a really common thing.” He offered the example of muffins sold at a nationwide coffee shop chain that were found to contain plastic and refused entry, only to successfully enter the United States through another port and end up on the chain store’s shelves.
Strong Bipartisan Support
The Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act was introduced in the House by Representatives Troy Carter (D-LA) and Clay Higgins (R-LA) and has attracted broad bipartisan support.
Currently, there are another thirteen bipartisan co-sponsors in the House of Representatives for H.R. 2715 from eight different states, including:
- Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL)
- Congressman Don Davis (D-NC)
- Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
- Congressman Mike Ezell (R-MS)
- Congressman Cleo Fields (D-LA)
- Congressman Mike Haridopolos (R-FL)
- Congresswoman Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA)
- Congresswoman Julia Letlow (R-LA)
- Congressman Gregory Murphy (R-NC)
- Congressman Troy Nehls (R-TX)
- Congressman John Rutherford (R-FL)
- Congressman Gregory Steube (R-FL)
- Congressman Randy Weber (R-TX)
- Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-SC)
The Senate version of the bill (S. 3213), introduced by Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), has been co-sponsored by Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) and Senator John Kennedy (R-LA).
Strong Public Support
As noted, at the recent Health Subcommittee hearing, Representative Troy Carter highlighted the depth of the coalition that has coalesced around the bill, spanning from federal regulators, consumer safety advocates, and the domestic industry.
In February 2026, the Southern Shrimp Alliance led a coalition letter signed by sixteen American seafood-producing organizations to the House Energy Committee and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, urging passage of the Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act.
The signatories included:
- Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association
- Apostleship of the Sea of the United States of America
- Chesapeake Bay Seafood Industries Association
- East Coast Shellfish Growers Association
- Gulf of America Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance
- Hawaii Longline Association
- Louisiana Crawfish Processors Alliance
- Louisiana Farm Bureau Crawfish Advisory Committee
- Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association
- North American Marine Alliance
- North Carolina Fisheries Association
- Oregon Trawl Commission
- Port Arthur Area Shrimpers Association
- Southeastern Fisheries Association
- Southern Shrimp Alliance
- Texas Shrimp Association
In March 2026, the Safe Food Coalition sent their own coalition letter signed by eight public health and safety advocacy organizations to the House Energy Committee and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, also urging passage of the Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act.
The signatories of the Safe Food Coalition letter included:
- Center for Science in the Public Interest
- Consumer Federation of America
- Consumer Reports
- Farm Forward
- Food & Water Watch
- Government Accountability Project
- Institute for Food Safety & Nutrition Security
- Stop Foodborne Illness
Before that, a September 4, 2025 coalition letter from organizations “committed to protecting patient safety and securing the integrity of the United States supply chain” also directed at the House Energy Committee and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, expressed strong support for the FDA’s request for authority to order the destruction of dangerous imports, explaining that under current law, the FDA’s process “sometimes results in [dangerous products] return to the rogue manufacturers, allowing these rogue manufacturers to port shop. After this return, the rogue manufacturers simply reship them back to the United States, again aiming to breach our pharmaceutical border security and harm American patients.”
The nine signatories of the September 4, 2025 letter included:
- Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP)
- ECRI
- Institute for Safe Medicine Practices
- The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition
- National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators
- National Association of State Controlled Substances Authorities
- National Consumers League
- The Partnership for Safe Medicines
- Rx-360
What the Markup Means
A committee markup is the formal process by which a congressional committee considers, amends, and votes on legislation before sending it to the full chamber for a floor vote. The Health Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s actions on Wednesday mark an important milestone on the long path for legislation to become law. Prior to consideration on the House floor, the Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act will be subject to further consideration by the full House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
As the legislative process continues, the Southern Shrimp Alliance will work to identify additional stakeholders in support of the FDA’s common sense, much-needed legislative request.