I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1236 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to ensure the safety 

of imported seafood. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2021 

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana (for himself and Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 

ensure the safety of imported seafood. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Imported Seafood 

5 Testing Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENSURING THE SAFETY OF IMPORTED SEAFOOD. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter VIII of the Federal 

8 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 381 et seq.) 

9 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 810. SAFETY OF IMPORTED SEAFOOD. 

2 ‘‘(a) MANDATORY TESTING.— 

3 ‘‘(1) MINIMUM TESTING.—The Secretary shall 

4 inspect and test not less than 20 percent of all sea5 food imported or offered for import into the United 

6 States each year. 

7 ‘‘(2) NEW EXPORTERS.—Notwithstanding any 

8 other provision of this Act, the first 15 shipments of 

9 seafood imported or offered for import into the 

10 United States from an exporter shall be inspected 

11 and tested by the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(3) FAILURE TO PASS INSPECTION.— 

13 ‘‘(A) ONE FAILURE.—If a shipment of sea14 food imported or offered for import into the 

15 United States by an exporter fails to meet an 

16 inspection or test requirement under this Act, 

17 each subsequent shipment of seafood from such 

18 exporter shall be inspected and tested by the 

19 Secretary, until 15 consecutive shipments by 

20 such exporter pass that inspection and testing. 

21 ‘‘(B) MULTIPLE FAILURES.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If more than 3 

23 shipments of seafood imported or offered 

24 for import into the United States by an ex25 porter fail to meet inspection or test re26 quirements under this Act during any 1- 


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1 year period, no shipments from such ex2 porter may be imported or offered for im3 port into the United States for the fol4 lowing 1-year period. Following such 1- 

5 year period when no shipments may be so 

6 imported or offered, such exporter shall 

7 not be permitted to offer imports to the 

8 United States unless the Secretary certifies 

9 that such exporter is maintaining a pro10 gram using reliable analytical methods to 

11 ensure compliance with the United States 

12 standards for seafood manufacturing, proc13 essing, and holding. 

14 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION BY SEC15 RETARY.—Shipments of seafood imported 

16 or offered for import into the United 

17 States by an exporter that has been sub18 ject to a 1-year suspension period and a 

19 certification under clause (i) shall be in20 spected at a rate determined appropriate 

21 by the Secretary for a period of time as de22 termined appropriate by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(C) PATTERN OF FAILURES.—If the Sec24 retary determines that shipments of seafood im25 ported or offered for import into the United 


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1 States from a particular country repeatedly fail 

2 to meet inspection or testing requirements 

3 under this Act, all shipments of seafood from 

4 such country shall be refused entry into the 

5 United States until the Secretary makes a cer6 tification described in subparagraph (B)(i). 

7 ‘‘(4) FEES.—The Secretary shall by regulation 

8 impose such fees on exporters in such amounts as 

9 may be necessary to provide, equip, and maintain an 

10 adequate and efficient inspection service to carry out 

11 this subsection. Receipts from such fees shall be cov12 ered into the Treasury and shall be available to the 

13 Secretary for expenditures incurred in carrying out 

14 the purposes of this subsection. 

15 ‘‘(b) EFFECT OF SHIPMENTS THAT FAIL TO MEET

16 REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

18 801, if a shipment of seafood imported or offered for 

19 import into the United States fails to meet safety 

20 standards established by the Secretary, such ship21 ment shall be detained or destroyed unless the im22 ported shipment meets criteria for re-export, as de23 termined by the Secretary. 

24 ‘‘(2) LABELING.—If a shipment of seafood has 

25 been refused admission under paragraph (1), other 


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1 than such a shipment that is required to be de2 stroyed, the Secretary shall require the owner or 

3 consignee of the shipment to affix to the container 

4 of the seafood a label that clearly and conspicuously 

5 bears the statement: ‘UNITED STATES: RE6 FUSED ENTRY’. 

7 ‘‘(3) EXPORTING TO FOREIGN COUNTRY.—If 

8 the appropriate authority of a foreign country noti9 fies the Secretary, not later than 45 days after the 

10 shipment is rejected under paragraph (1), that the 

11 shipment will be accepted in that country, such ship12 ment may be released to the importer for expor13 tation to such foreign country. 

14 ‘‘(4) DESTRUCTION OF SHIPMENT.—If the Sec15 retary deems that a shipment rejected under para16 graph (1), if it had been allowed entry, could have 

17 caused significant health risks if consumed by hu18 mans, the shipment shall be destroyed, notwith19 standing the receipt of a notification under para20 graph (3). 

21 ‘‘(5) NOTIFICATION TO PORTS OF ENTRY.—The 

22 Secretary shall notify ports of entry not later than 

23 5 days after a shipment described in paragraph 

24 (1)— 


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1 ‘‘(A) was determined to fail to meet safety 

2 standards established by the Secretary under 

3 such paragraph; or 

4 ‘‘(B) was detained or destroyed. 

5 ‘‘(c) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall maintain a 

6 public webpage on the website of the Food and Drug Ad7 ministration tracking all shipments that are detained or 

8 destroyed, and the status of any importing countries fail9 ing to meet minimum standards.’’. 

10 (b) PROHIBITED ACT; PENALTIES.—Chapter III of 

11 the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 331 

12 et seq.) is amended— 

13 (1) in section 301, by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(fff) Knowingly making a false statement with re16 spect to a test or inspection carried out under section 810, 

17 or knowingly misbranding any seafood imported under 

18 such section.’’; and 

19 (2) in section 303, by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(h)(1) Any person who violates section 301(fff) shall 

22 be subject to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed 

23 $250,000 for each such violation, and not to exceed 

24 $250,000 for each such violation and not to exceed 


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1 $1,100,000 for all such violations after the second convic2 tion in any 3-year period. 

3 ‘‘(2) Paragraphs (5), (6), and (7) of subsection (f) 

4 shall apply to a civil penalty assessment under this sub5 section in the same manner as such paragraphs apply to 

6 a civil penalty assessment under subsection (f)(1).’’. 

Æ 


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