Ban on Farm Raised Fish From China Falls Short: More Inspection Needed to Protect American Consumers

02/07/07 The Food & Drug Administration responded to increasing criticism about their failure to adequately protect Americans from chemical and antibiotic residues in imported seafood from China. Unfortunately, the restrictions on Chinese importation of catfish, basa, shrimp, dace, and eel fall short of assuring the health and safety of Americans, according to the consumer rights group Food & Water Watch.

FDA will detain Chinese seafood at ports until it can be verified through a third-party laboratory report that the shipment is free of drug and chemical residues. Unfortunately, although the FDA has established protocol for the testing, which can be done in China, there is no assurance, that the testing will be accurate.

China is leading the world in industrially farmed seafood production, in illegal drug residues found on imported fish and in exporting seafood to the United States. According to our analysis, 35 percent of all seafood shipments refused at the border for veterinary drug residues originated in China between 2003 and 2006. However, the problem of contaminated seafood exports goes beyond China. The United States imports more than 80 percent of its seafood, much of it from industrial fish farm operations throughout Asia and Latin America. Many of these aquaculture facilities use antibiotics and chemicals that are illegal in the United States.

Congress should take immediate action to restore the funding that it cut for inspections of imported seafood and fund FDA at appropriate levels to protect American consumers. The FDA should address the recent contamination incidents in China by initiating a complete ban on Chinese food imports to the United States until all shipments of food items can be inspected and tested.