On February 7, 2014, the U.S. federal government enacted the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the “Farm Bill”). This bill gives USDA exclusive authority to regulate and inspect all farm-raised catfish sold in the U.S. In doing so, it removes FDA’s regulatory control over catfish, including its authority to refuse catfish imports under Import Alert 16-131, and fundamentally changes the U.S. regulatory regime that monitors farm-raised catfish imports.
USDA must propose rules governing (1) catfish safety and (2) domestic and international inspections by April 8, 2014, and must finalize and enforce these rules by February 7, 2015. FDA will continue to regulate and inspect catfish until USDA finalizes its own regulation. The Farm Bill specifically defines catfish as including not only the North American and foreign catfish varieties, but also the 3,000+ catfish species that fall within the zoological definition of “Siluriformes,” including catfish-like foreign varieties such as pangasius, swai, tra, and basa.
Once the regulations are finalized, we expect all imported catfish to be subject to the same regulatory requirements as foreign-raised meat, including significantly stricter requirements on production, packaging, and safety. We also anticipate that USDA will require foreign equivalence audits, which include 1) extensive facility operation and foreign government reviews, 2) on-site facility audits, and 3) port-of-entry (“POE”) re-inspections. The USDA determines the scope and frequency of these on-site audits and POE re-inspections by analyzing a facility’s history of compliance and assessing the entire country’s import performance and safety risks.
The international catfish industry has been understandably critical of the new law and its overtly protectionist agenda. Both Vietnam and Indonesia have threatened legal action against the U.S. for violating the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, intended to promote trade and growth between member states. The WTO would adjudicate any trade agreement disputes, possibly encouraging the U.S. government to revoke USDA’s control over catfish.
Nevertheless, for the foreseeable future, FDA will continue to oversee farm-raised catfish. However, the catfish industry should expect changes. While we will not know how drastically the Farm Bill will affect the industry until USDA proposes its rules, FDAImports.com will be monitoring this new regime closely, providing you with up-to-date information and counsel so you can be ahead of the curve. Contact us today to learn more about the upcoming changes.
