The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now released information regarding entry line refusals for the month of April through last Monday, April 17th. In total, 7 of the 46 (15.2%) of the entry line refusals reported for this month have been of shrimp for reasons related to banned antibiotics.
The seven shrimp entry lines refused by the FDA for banned antibiotics in April were from China, India, and Vietnam and were reported by four different FDA districts:
- Minh Phu Seafood Corporation (Vietnam), a company that was added to Import Alert 16-124 for sulfamethoxazole in its shrimp on February 22, 2017 after its affiliate Minh Qui Seafood Co., Ltd. had been added to that Import Alert for sulfamethoxazole in its shrimp on July 22, 2016, had four entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with chloramphenicol in the Florida District;
- Suryamitra Exim Pvt Ltd (India), a company that was added to Import Alert 16-129 for nitrofurans in its shrimp on March 15, 2017, had one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans and veterinary drug residues in the New England District;
- Bluepark Seafoods (India), a company that is not currently listed on Import Alert 16-124, Import Alert 16-127, or Import Alert 16-129, had one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues in the New York District; and
- Donggang Tianquan Aquatic Food C (China), a company that has not been exempted from Import Alert 16-131, had one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues in the Los Angeles District.
This is the fourth straight month that the FDA has reported refusals of entry lines of shrimp from Minh Phu Seafood Corporation for reasons related to banned antibiotics.