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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Imported Seafood 
Testing Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ENSURING THE SAFETY OF IMPORTED SEAFOOD. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter VIII of the Federal 
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 381 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 810. SAFETY OF IMPORTED SEAFOOD. 
‘‘(a) MANDATORY TESTING.— 
‘‘(1) MINIMUM TESTING.—The Secretary shall 
inspect and test not less than 20 percent of all sea-
food imported or offered for import into the United 
States each year. 
‘‘(2) NEW EXPORTERS.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of this Act, the first 15 shipments of 
seafood imported or offered for import into the 
United States from an exporter shall be inspected 
and tested by the Secretary. 
‘‘(3) FAILURE TO PASS INSPECTION.— 
‘‘(A) ONE FAILURE.—If a shipment of sea-
food imported or offered for import into the 
United States by an exporter fails to meet an 
inspection or test requirement under this Act, 
each subsequent shipment of seafood from such 
exporter shall be inspected and tested by the 
Secretary, until 15 consecutive shipments by 
such exporter pass that inspection and testing. 
‘‘(B) MULTIPLE FAILURES.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—If more than 3 
shipments of seafood imported or offered 
for import into the United States by an ex-
porter fail to meet inspection or test re-
quirements under this Act during any 1- 
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year period, no shipments from such ex-
porter may be imported or offered for im-
port into the United States for the fol-
lowing 1-year period. Following such 1- 
year period when no shipments may be so 
imported or offered, such exporter shall 
not be permitted to offer imports to the 
United States unless the Secretary certifies 
that such exporter is maintaining a pro-
gram using reliable analytical methods to 
ensure compliance with the United States 
standards for seafood manufacturing, proc-
essing, and holding. 
‘‘(ii) 
DETERMINATION
BY
SEC-
RETARY.—Shipments of seafood imported 
or offered for import into the United 
States by an exporter that has been sub-
ject to a 1-year suspension period and a 
certification under clause (i) shall be in-
spected at a rate determined appropriate 
by the Secretary for a period of time as de-
termined appropriate by the Secretary. 
‘‘(C) PATTERN OF FAILURES.—If the Sec-
retary determines that shipments of seafood im-
ported or offered for import into the United 
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States from a particular country repeatedly fail 
to meet inspection or testing requirements 
under this Act, all shipments of seafood from 
such country shall be refused entry into the 
United States until the Secretary makes a cer-
tification described in subparagraph (B)(i). 
‘‘(4) FEES.—The Secretary shall by regulation 
impose such fees on exporters in such amounts as 
may be necessary to provide, equip, and maintain an 
adequate and efficient inspection service to carry out 
this subsection. Receipts from such fees shall be cov-
ered into the Treasury and shall be available to the 
Secretary for expenditures incurred in carrying out 
the purposes of this subsection. 
‘‘(b) EFFECT OF SHIPMENTS THAT FAIL TO MEET 
REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 
801, if a shipment of seafood imported or offered for 
import into the United States fails to meet safety 
standards established by the Secretary, such ship-
ment shall be detained or destroyed unless the im-
ported shipment meets criteria for re-export, as de-
termined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(2) LABELING.—If a shipment of seafood has 
been refused admission under paragraph (1), other 
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than such a shipment that is required to be de-
stroyed, the Secretary shall require the owner or 
consignee of the shipment to affix to the container 
of the seafood a label that clearly and conspicuously 
bears the statement: ‘UNITED STATES: RE-
FUSED ENTRY’. 
‘‘(3) EXPORTING
TO
FOREIGN
COUNTRY.—If 
the appropriate authority of a foreign country noti-
fies the Secretary, not later than 45 days after the 
shipment is rejected under paragraph (1), that the 
shipment will be accepted in that country, such ship-
ment may be released to the importer for expor-
tation to such foreign country. 
‘‘(4) DESTRUCTION OF SHIPMENT.—If the Sec-
retary deems that a shipment rejected under para-
graph (1), if it had been allowed entry, could have 
caused significant health risks if consumed by hu-
mans, the shipment shall be destroyed, notwith-
standing the receipt of a notification under para-
graph (3). 
‘‘(5) NOTIFICATION TO PORTS OF ENTRY.—The 
Secretary shall notify ports of entry not later than 
5 days after a shipment described in paragraph 
(1)— 
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‘‘(A) was determined to fail to meet safety 
standards established by the Secretary under 
such paragraph; or 
‘‘(B) was detained or destroyed. 
‘‘(c) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall maintain a 
public webpage on the website of the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration tracking all shipments that are detained or 
destroyed, and the status of any importing countries fail-
ing to meet minimum standards.’’. 
(b) PROHIBITED ACT; PENALTIES.—Chapter III of 
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 331 
et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in section 301, by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(fff) Knowingly making a false statement with re-
spect to a test or inspection carried out under section 810, 
or knowingly misbranding any seafood imported under 
such section.’’; and 
(2) in section 303, by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(h)(1) Any person who violates section 301(fff) shall 
be subject to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed 
$250,000 for each such violation, and not to exceed 
$250,000 for each such violation and not to exceed 
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$1,100,000 for all such violations after the second convic-
tion in any 3-year period. 
‘‘(2) Paragraphs (5), (6), and (7) of subsection (f) 
shall apply to a civil penalty assessment under this sub-
section in the same manner as such paragraphs apply to 
a civil penalty assessment under subsection (f)(1).’’. 
Æ 
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