On Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published detailed data regarding 60 seafood entry line refusals in March, of which five (8.3%) were for shrimp for reasons related to banned antibiotics.
As indicated in the table below, in the first quarter of 2024, the FDA refused a total of twenty-one (21) entry lines of shrimp for banned antibiotics.
The five entry lines of shrimp refused for banned antibiotics in March were for shipments of shrimp from two exporters in Bangladesh and Thailand, respectively. Both processors currently operate under Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certifications:
· Apex Foods (Bangladesh), a company that currently operates under a two-star BAP certification for its processing plant (P10025), with an additional BAP certification for a shrimp farm (F10058), and that is not currently listed on Import Alert 16-124 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Aquaculture Seafood Products Due to Unapproved Drugs”), Import Alert 16-127 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Crustaceans Due to Chloramphenicol”), or Import Alert 16-129 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Seafood Products Due to Nitrofurans”), had four entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofuran and veterinary drug residues by the Division of West Coast Imports on March 26, 2024; and
· Thai Union Seafood Company Limited (Thailand), a company that currently operates under a four-star Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification for its processing plant (P10396), with additional BAP certifications for multiple shrimp farms, and that was added to Import Alert 16-129 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Seafood Products Due to Nitrofurans”) for its shipments of shrimp on March 15, 2024, had one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues by the Division of West Coast Imports on March 9, 2024.
The addition of Thai Union Seafood Company Limited to Import Alert 16-129 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Seafood Products Due to Nitrofurans”) in March comes after Thai Union Group Public Company Limited was added to Import Alert 16-124 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Aquaculture Seafood Products Due to Unapproved Drugs”) a month earlier due to the detection of ciprofloxacin and sulfamethoxazole in its shrimp shipments.
Also on Thursday, the FDA announced refusals in March of three additional entry lines of shrimp from Thailand (CK Frozen Fish & Food Co., Ltd. with 2 entry lines) and India (Naga Hanuman Fish Packers) for the presence of salmonella and filth.
About the Southern Shrimp Alliance
The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) is an organization of shrimp fishermen, shrimp processors, and other members of the domestic industry in the eight warmwater shrimp producing states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.
