The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published data today reporting that there were 27 total seafood entry line refusals in May, none of which were of shrimp for reasons related to banned antibiotics.
The small number of total seafood entry lines refused last month (27) is unprecedented and a stunning aberration from the agency’s historical activities. Over the previous eighteen years (2002-2019), the FDA has refused an average of roughly 158 seafood entry lines each year in the month of May. The 27 seafood entry line refusals reported last month represents a drop of 83 percent below this historic average. The chart below sets out the total number of seafood entry lines refused by the FDA in the month of May for each of the last nineteen years.
This remarkable decline in overall seafood entry line refusals implies a massive reduction in the FDA’s oversight activities regarding imported seafood at our ports of entry.
The FDA has reported a total of fourteen refusals of shrimp entry lines for reasons related to banned antibiotics through the first five months of 2020.
