September 18, 2007

US shrimp body lambastes FDA , cite double standards on imports
 

Shrimp producers in the US are upset that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has adopted what they termed double standards in dealing with seafood imports.

According to the Southern Shrimp Alliance, a group of US shrimp producers, FDA banned some of China's seafood citing contaminants. But similar contaminated seafood from other countries continues to be imported into the US unhindered.

The SSA has said large exporters from Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia use chemicals and fish-farming techniques that are identical to China's.

But imports from such markets have continued apace. "This is not just a China problem," said Bradford Ward, a Washington attorney who represents the SSA.

"Why are other countries trading a lot, going ahead with shrimp imports and not attracting FDA attention?"

Vietnam, in particular, has been cited by other countries for the use of antibiotics and other chemicals in its fish-farming ponds -- the same substances that were cited by the FDA in its "import alert"' on Chinese shrimp and catfish.

Japan and the European Union have recently raised concerns about the use of banned antibiotics in Vietnamese fish farms.