Administration (FDA) released details regarding imports refused entry into the United States for the month of June. In total, the agency reported refusing 124 seafood entry lines last month. Of these, 7 (5.6%) were of shrimp entry lines refused for reasons related to banned antibiotics.
Through the first half of 2016, refusals for antibiotic-contaminated shrimp are well below the elevated levels reported by the agency over the last two years. The drop in the overall number of refusals is likely in significant part attributable to a massive decline in the volume of shrimp claimed to be of Malaysian-origin to this market. Nevertheless, even in the absence of “Malaysian” shrimp shipments, the agency’s overall refusals of shrimp from a variety of other countries in on pace to be the fourth highest number of entry lines refused over the last fifteen years.
Moreover, 2016 has been characterized by a surprising diversity in the origin of shrimp containing traces of banned antibiotics. For the year, the FDA has refused shrimp entry lines originating from seven different countries (Bangladesh, China, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Thailand, and Vietnam) for banned antibiotics. Last month, the entry line refusals involved four different companies in four different countries:
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