I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5738 

To improve the protections afforded under Federal law to consumers from 

contaminated seafood by directing the Secretary of Commerce to establish 

a program, in coordination with other appropriate Federal agencies, 

to strengthen activities for ensuring that seafood sold or offered for 

sale to the public in or affecting interstate commerce is fit for human 

consumption. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 9, 2008 

Mr. ROSS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To improve the protections afforded under Federal law to 

consumers from contaminated seafood by directing the 

Secretary of Commerce to establish a program, in coordination with other appropriate Federal agencies, to 

strengthen activities for ensuring that seafood sold or 

offered for sale to the public in or affecting interstate 

commerce is fit for human consumption. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercial Seafood 

3 Consumer Protection Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SEAFOOD SAFETY. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce shall, 

6 in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human 

7 Services and other appropriate Federal agencies, establish 

8 a program to strengthen Federal activities for ensuring 

9 that commercially distributed seafood in the United States 

10 meets the food quality and safety requirements of Federal 

11 law. 

12 (b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Sec13 retary of Commerce and the Secretary of Health and 

14 Human Services shall enter into an agreement within 180 

15 days after enactment of this Act to strengthen cooperation 

16 on seafood safety. The agreement shall include provisions 

17 for— 

18 (1) cooperative arrangements for examining and 

19 testing seafood imports; 

20 (2) coordination of inspections of foreign facili21 ties; 

22 (3) technical assistance and training of foreign 

23 facilities for marine aquaculture, technical assistance 

24 for foreign governments concerning United States 

25 regulatory requirements, and appropriate informaVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:23 Apr 17, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5738.IH H5738

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1 tion transfer arrangements between the United 

2 States and foreign governments; 

3 (4) developing a process for expediting imports 

4 of seafood into the United States from foreign coun5 tries and exporters that consistently adhere to the 

6 highest standards for ensuring seafood safety; 

7 (5) establishing a system to track shipments of 

8 seafood in the distribution chain within the United 

9 States; 

10 (6) labeling requirements to assure species iden11 tity and prevent fraudulent practices; 

12 (7) a process by which officers and employees 

13 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis14 tration and National Marine Fisheries Service shall 

15 be commissioned by the Secretary of Health and 

16 Human Services for seafood examinations and inves17 tigations conducted under section 801 of the Federal 

18 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 381); 

19 (8) the sharing of information concerning ob20 served non-compliance with United States food re21 quirements domestically and in foreign countries and 

22 new regulatory decisions and policies that may affect 

23 regulatory outcomes; and 


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1 (9) conducting joint training on subjects that 

2 affect and strengthen seafood inspection effective3 ness by Federal authorities. 

4 SEC. 3. CERTIFIED LABORATORIES. 

5 Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

6 Act, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the 

7 Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall increase 

8 the number of laboratories certified to the standards of 

9 the Food and Drug Administration in the United States 

10 and in countries that export seafood to the United States 

11 for the purpose of analyzing seafood and ensuring that 

12 it complies with Federal law. Such laboratories may in13 clude Federal, State, and private facilities. The Secretary 

14 of commerce shall publish in the Federal Register a list 

15 of certified laboratories, and shall update the list, and pub16 lish the updated list, no less frequently than annually. 

17 SEC. 4. NOAA LABORATORIES. 

18 In any fiscal year beginning after the date of enact19 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall increase 

20 the number and capacity of laboratories operated by the 

21 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in22 volved in carrying out testing and other activities under 

23 this Act to the extent the Secretary determines that in24 creased laboratory capacity is necessary to carry out the 


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1 provisions of this Act and as provided for in appropria2 tions Acts. 

3 SEC. 5. CONTAMINATED SEAFOOD. 

4 (a) REFUSAL OF ENTRY.—The Secretary of Health 

5 and Human Services shall issue an order refusing admis6 sion into the United States of all imports of seafood or 

7 seafood products originating from a country or exporter 

8 if the Secretary determines, on the basis of reliable evi9 dence, that shipments of such seafood or seafood products 

10 is not likely to meet the requirements of Federal law. 

11 (b) INCREASED TESTING.—If the Secretary deter12 mines, on the basis of reliable evidence that seafood im13 ports originating from a country may not meet the re14 quirements of Federal law, and determines that there is 

15 a lack of adequate certified laboratories to provide for the 

16 entry of shipments pursuant to section 3, then the Sec17 retary shall order an increase in the percentage of ship18 ments tested of seafood originating from such country to 

19 improve detection of potential violations of such require20 ments. 

21 (c) ALLOWANCE OF INDIVIDUAL SHIPMENTS FROM

22 EXPORTING COUNTRY OR EXPORTER.—Notwithstanding 

23 an order under subsection (a) with respect to seafood orig24 inating from a country or exporter, the Secretary may per25 mit individual shipments of seafood originating in that 


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1 country or from that exporter to be admitted into the 

2 United States if— 

3 (1) the exporter presents evidence from a lab4 oratory certified by the Secretary that a shipment of 

5 seafood meets the requirements of Federal law; and 

6 (2) the Secretary, or an entity commissioned to 

7 carry out examinations and investigations under sec8 tion 702(a) of the Federal Food, Cosmetic, and 

9 Drug Act (21 U.S.C. 372(a)), has inspected the 

10 shipment and has found that the shipment meets the 

11 requirements of Federal law. 

12 (d) CANCELLATION OF ORDER.—The Secretary shall 

13 cancel an order under subsection (a) with respect to sea14 food exported from a country or exporter if all shipments 

15 into the United States under subsection (c) of seafood 

16 originating in that country or from that exporter more 

17 than 1 year after the date on which the Secretary issued 

18 the order have been found, under the procedures described 

19 in subsection (c), to meet the requirements of Federal law. 

20 If the Secretary determines that an exporter has failed 

21 to comply with the requirements of an order under sub22 section (a), the 1-year period in the preceding sentence 

23 shall run from the date of that determination rather than 

24 the date on which the order was issued. 


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1 (e) RELIABLE EVIDENCE DEFINED.—In this section, 

2 the term ‘‘reliable evidence’’ includes— 

3 (1) the detection of failure to meet Federal law 

4 requirements under subsection (a) by the Secretary; 

5 (2) the detection of all seafood products that 

6 fail to meet Federal law requirements by an entity 

7 commissioned to carry out examinations and inves8 tigations under section 702(a) of the Federal Food, 

9 Cosmetic, and Drug Act (21 U.S.C. 372(a)) or a 

10 laboratory certified under subsection (c); 

11 (3) findings from an inspection team formed 

12 under section 6; or 

13 (4) the detection by other importing countries 

14 of non-compliance of shipments of seafood or sea15 food products that originate from the exporting 

16 country or exporter. 

17 (f) EFFECT.—This section shall be in addition to, 

18 and shall have no effect on, the authority of the Secretary 

19 of Health and Human Services under the Federal Food, 

20 Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) with re21 spect to seafood, seafood products, or any other product. 

22 SEC. 6. INSPECTION TEAMS. 

23 The Secretary of Commerce, in cooperation with the 

24 Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall send 1 or 

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1 food exported to the United States originates. The inspec2 tion team will assess whether any prohibited drug, prac3 tice, or process is being used in connection with the farm4 ing, cultivation, harvesting, preparation for market, or 

5 transportation of such seafood. The inspection team shall 

6 prepare a report for the Secretary with its findings. The 

7 Secretary of Commerce shall cause the report to be pub8 lished in the Federal Register no later than 90 days after 

9 the inspection team makes its final report. The Secretary 

10 of Commerce shall notify the country or exporter through 

11 appropriate means as to the findings of the report no later 

12 than the date on which the report is published in the Fed13 eral Register. A country may offer a rebuttal to the assess14 ment within 90 days after publication of the report. 

15 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 There are authorized to be appropriated for each of 

17 fiscal years 2009 through 2013, for purposes of carrying 

18 out the provisions of this Act, $15,000,000. 

Æ 


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