US now seeks duty collection on Thai, Indian shrimp shipments

US has stopped requiring special bonds on shrimp imports following a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling, but is looking at other ways to collect duties on the shipments, a US shrimp fishery group said on Thursday (Apr 2).

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) notified the industry on Wednesday (Apr 1) that it would end its enhanced bonding requirement for cheap shrimp imports that the WTO ruled against last year after complaints from Thailand and India.

Southern Shrimp Alliance executive director John Williams encouraged CBP to implement new measures to collect duties owed on unfairly traded shrimp imports as soon as possible.

In a federal notice published on Wednesday, US Customs said it continues to explore options to address the issue.

The case affected Thai seafood exporters such as Thai Union Frozen Products, Charoen Pokphand Foods and Seafresh Industry.

It was also of interest to Indian companies including Avanti Feeds, Uniroyal Marine Exports, Waterbase and unlisted exporters Devi Seafoods and Falcon Marine Exports. 

According to US National Marine Fisheries Service statistics, US imported 182,370 tonnes of shrimp from Thailand - its largest supplier - worth US$1.28 billion in 2008.

Total US imports that year were 564 million tonnes worth US$4.09 billion.