II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2934 

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

of imported seafood. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 20, 2010 

Mr. VITTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

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 Safety Standards 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. 805. SAFETY OF IMPORTED SEAFOOD. 

2 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT OF EQUIVALENCE.— 

3 ‘‘(1) STANDARDS FOR EXPORTING COUNTRY.— 

4 No seafood may be imported into the United States 

5 from a foreign country unless the Secretary certifies 

6 that the seafood imported from such country is 

7 maintained through a program using reliable analyt8 ical methods to ensure compliance with the United 

9 States standards for seafood manufacturing, proc10 essing, and holding. 

11 ‘‘(2) INSPECTION OF EXPORTING FACILITIES.— 

12 In accordance with the procedures described under 

13 section 704, officers and employees duly designated 

14 by the Secretary shall conduct not less than 1 in15 spection on an annual basis of each foreign facility 

16 that exports seafood to the United States to ensure 

17 that each such foreign facility maintains a program 

18 using reliable analytical methods to ensure compli19 ance with the United States standards for seafood 

20 manufacturing, processing, and holding. In addition 

21 to such annual inspection, such officers and employ22 ees shall conduct periodic follow-up inspections of 

23 such foreign facilities as determined necessary by 

24 the Secretary. 

25 ‘‘(b) MANDATORY TESTING.— 


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

2 inspect and test not less than 20 percent of all sea3 food imported or offered for import into the United 

4 States each year. 

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

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

7 seafood imported or offered for import into the 

8 United States from an exporter shall be inspected 

9 and tested by the Secretary. 

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

11 ‘‘(A) ONE FAILURE.—If a shipment of sea12 food imported or offered for import into the 

13 United States by an exporter fails to meet an 

14 inspection or test requirements, each subse15 quent shipment of seafood from such exporter 

16 shall be inspected and tested by the Secretary, 

17 until 15 consecutive shipments pass inspection 

18 and testing. 

19 ‘‘(B) MULTIPLE FAILURES.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If more than 3 

21 shipments of seafood imported or offered 

22 for import into the United States by an ex23 porter fail to meet inspection or tests re24 quirements during any 1-year period, no 

25 shipments from such exporter may be imVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:08 Jan 21, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2934.IS S2934

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1 ported or offered for import into the 

2 United States for the following 1-year pe3 riod. Following such 1-year period when no 

4 shipments may be so imported or offered, 

5 such exporter shall not be permitted to 

6 offer imports to the United States unless 

7 the Secretary certifies that such exporter is 

8 maintaining a program using reliable ana9 lytical methods to ensure compliance with 

10 the United States standards for seafood 

11 manufacturing, processing, and holding. 

12 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION BY SEC13 RETARY.—Shipments of seafood imported 

14 or offered for import into the United 

15 States by an exporter that has been sub16 ject to a 1-year suspension period and a 

17 certification under clause (i) shall be in18 spected at a rate determined appropriate 

19 by the Secretary for a period of time as de20 termined appropriate by the Secretary. 

21 ‘‘(C) PATTERN OF FAILURES.—If the Sec22 retary determines that shipments of seafood im23 ported or offered for import into the United 

24 States from a particular country repeatedly fail 

25 to meet inspection or testing requirements, all 


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1 shipments of seafood from such country shall be 

2 refused entry into the United States until the 

3 Secretary makes a certification described under 

4 subsection (a). 

5 ‘‘(D) PROCEDURES.—The testing and in6 spections procedures used under this paragraph 

7 shall be carried out in accordance with section 

8 801. 

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

10 impose such fees on exporters in such amounts as 

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

12 adequate and efficient inspection service to carry out 

13 this subsection. Receipts from such fees shall be cov14 ered into the Treasury and shall be available to the 

15 Secretary for expenditures incurred in carrying out 

16 the purposes of this subsection, including expendi17 tures for salaries of additional inspectors when nec18 essary to supplement the number of inspectors for 

19 whose salaries Congress has appropriated. 

20 ‘‘(c) EFFECT OF SHIPMENTS THAT FAIL TO MEET

21 REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

23 801, if a shipment of seafood imported or offered for 

24 import into the United States fails to meet safety 

25 standards established by the Secretary, such shipVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:08 Jan 21, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2934.IS S2934

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1 ment shall be detained or destroyed unless the im2 ported shipment meets criteria for re-export, as de3 termined by the Secretary. 

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

5 been refused admission under paragraph (1), other 

6 than such a shipment that is required to be de7 stroyed, the Secretary shall require the owner or 

8 consignee of the shipment to affix to the container 

9 of the seafood a label that clearly and conspicuously 

10 bears the statement: ‘UNITED STATES: RE11 FUSED ENTRY’. 

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

13 the appropriate authority of a foreign country noti14 fies the Secretary, not later than 45 days after the 

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

16 shipment will be accepted in that country, such ship17 ment may be released to the importer for expor18 tation to such foreign country. 

19 ‘‘(4) DESTRUCTION OF SHIPMENT.—If the Sec20 retary deems that a shipment rejected under para21 graph (1), if it were to have been allowed entry, 

22 could have caused significant health risks if con23 sumed by humans, the shipment shall be destroyed 

24 notwithstanding the receipt of a notification under 

25 paragraph (3). 


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

2 Secretary shall notify ports of entry not later than 

3 5 days after a shipment described in paragraph 

4 (1)— 

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

6 standards established by the Secretary under 

7 such paragraph; or 

8 ‘‘(B) was detained or destroyed. 

9 ‘‘(d) PORTS OF ENTRY.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

11 provision of this chapter, seafood may be imported 

12 or offered for import at only those ports of entry 

13 into the United States that have the personnel 

14 trained to conduct the applicable testing and inspec15 tion of seafood, as certified by the Secretary under 

16 paragraph (2). 

17 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall cer18 tify which ports of entry into the United States have 

19 the personnel trained to conduct the applicable test20 ing and inspection of seafood. 

21 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF CERTIFICATION REQUIRE22 MENT.—If a port of entry— 

23 ‘‘(A) was, on the day before the date of en24 actment of this section, a port of entry that acVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:08 Jan 21, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2934.IS S2934

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1 cepted seafood imported or offered for import 

2 into the United States; and 

3 ‘‘(B) does not meet the requirements for 

4 certification under paragraph (2), 

5 the Secretary shall, as soon as practicable after the 

6 date of enactment of this section, provide proper 

7 personnel levels and training to enable such port to 

8 be certified under paragraph (2). 

9 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORT.—On an annual basis, the 

10 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that describes 

11 the implementation of this section, including— 

12 ‘‘(1) summary data relating to inspections and 

13 testing under this section, and any noncompliance 

14 with the applicable provisions of this Act; and 

15 ‘‘(2) recommendations of any improvements or 

16 other modifications to this section determined nec17 essary by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

20 necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

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

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

23 et seq.) is amended— 

24 (1) in section 301, by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(uu) The making of a knowingly false statement 

2 with respect to a test or inspection carried out under sec3 tion 805, or knowingly misbranding any seafood imported 

4 under such section.’’; and 

5 (2) in section 303, by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(h)(1) Any person who violates section 301(uu) shall 

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

9 $250,000 for each such violation, and not to exceed 

10 $1,100,000 for all such violations after the second convic11 tion in any 3-year period. 

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

13 shall apply to a civil penalty assessment under this sub14 section in the same manner as such paragraphs apply to 

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

16 SEC. 3. COOPERATION WITH STATES TO CONDUCT INSPEC17 TIONS. 

18 Chapter VIII of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos19 metic Act (21 U.S.C. 381 et seq.), as amended by section 

20 2, is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 805A. COOPERATION WITH STATES TO CONDUCT SEA22 FOOD INSPECTIONS. 

23 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COOPERATIVE INSPECTION

24 PROGRAM.—The Secretary may establish a program 

25 under which a State may conduct inspection, testing, and 


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1 certification of seafood imported or offered for import into 

2 the United States. 

3 ‘‘(b) COMPONENTS OF PROGRAM.—Under the pro4 gram established under subsection (a)— 

5 ‘‘(1) the Secretary shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) provide training to State officials to 

7 enable such officials to carry out inspection, 

8 testing, and certification, in accordance with 

9 Federal requirements and safety standards, of 

10 seafood imported or offered for import into the 

11 United States; and 

12 ‘‘(B) certify such State officials as author13 ized agents of the Federal Government to carry 

14 out such inspections, testing, and certification; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(2) a State that receives a grant under sub17 section (c) shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) comply with all requirements of the 

19 Secretary with respect to the training and cer20 tification of State officials described under 

21 paragraph (1); 

22 ‘‘(B) inspect, test, and certify, in accord23 ance with Federal requirements and safety 

24 standards, seafood imported or offered for im25 port into the United States; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) carry out any other activities as de2 termined necessary by the Secretary to ensure 

3 the safety of seafood imported or offered for 

4 import into the United States. 

5 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

7 grants to States to carry out the cooperative seafood 

8 inspection program established under subsection (a). 

9 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

10 grant under paragraph (1), a State shall submit an 

11 application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

12 manner, and containing such information as the Sec13 retary may require. 

14 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

16 necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

Æ 


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