Update 2/25/2019:
Due to communication disruptions during the recent government shutdown, NMFS and Customs have extended the informed compliance period for shrimp and abalone to April 1, 2019.
Update 01/22/2019:
Due to communication disruptions during the recent government shutdown, NMFS and Customs have extended the informed compliance period for shrimp and abalone to April 1, 2019.
NOAA’s NMFS recently announced they have started an informed compliance period for shrimp subject to SIMP. Although entries will be inspected and audited, if newly mandated data is missing, they will not automatically be rejected. After March 1, 2019, shrimp processors and importers must meet all SIMP requirements at the time of entry.
Posted: 12/20/2018:
Foreign Imports of shrimp and abalone will be subject to the U.S. Seafood Import Monitoring Policy (SIMP) by December 31st, 2018. The National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) previously had been utilizing SIMP to require importers of other seafood species to file chain of custody data at the time of filing entry into the United States to combat illegal, unregulated and unauthorized fishing and harvesting. Earlier this year NOAA announced that shrimp and abalone would also need to comply with this risk-based traceability program.
NMFS had allowed a transitional period for other seafood species when they became subject to SIMP (see our blog) which allowed shipments to enter the U.S. with missing SIMP data as long as it was provided promptly. However, at this writing there is no word from NMFS to indicate they would extend that to the December 31st deadline for shrimp. As attorney Ge Song explains “Shrimp importers must work with each foreign supplier to ensure that harvest data and supply chain records are available starting with December 31st entries.”
Reduced Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements under CTTP
If finalized, Shrimp importers will be able to take advantage of NMFS’s voluntary Commerce Trusted Trader Program (CTTP), which streamlines entry for shipments from qualified importers of SIMP regulated seafood. Benefits will include reduced reporting and recordkeeping requirements as well.
U.S Aquacultured (farm raised) Shrimp and Abalone
In the fall of 2018, NOAA Fisheries issued a proposed regulation to implement a traceability program for U.S. aquacultured shrimp and abalone. This program is designed to provide similar reporting requirements for U.S.-based products to those required for imported seafood products.
FDAImports.com’s regulatory specialists and affiliated attorneys routinely assist seafood manufacturers and importers with recordkeeping requirements for SIMP and HACCP, import alert violations, detentions, and facility inspections. Contact us today with your concerns.
