SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercial Seafood 
Consumer Protection Act’’. 
SEC. 2. SEAFOOD SAFETY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce shall, 
in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services and other appropriate Federal agencies, establish 
a program to strengthen Federal activities for ensuring 
that commercially distributed seafood in the United States 
meets the food quality and safety requirements of Federal 
law. 
(b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Sec-
retary of Commerce and the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall enter into an agreement within 180 
days after enactment of this Act to strengthen cooperation 
on seafood safety. The agreement shall include provisions 
for— 
(1) cooperative arrangements for examining and 
testing seafood imports; 
(2) coordination of inspections of foreign facili-
ties; 
(3) technical assistance and training of foreign 
facilities for marine aquaculture, technical assistance 
for foreign governments concerning United States 
regulatory requirements, and appropriate informa-
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tion transfer arrangements between the United 
States and foreign governments; 
(4) developing a process for expediting imports 
of seafood into the United States from foreign coun-
tries and exporters that consistently adhere to the 
highest standards for ensuring seafood safety; 
(5) establishing a system to track shipments of 
seafood in the distribution chain within the United 
States; 
(6) labeling requirements to assure species iden-
tity and prevent fraudulent practices; 
(7) a process by which officers and employees 
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration and National Marine Fisheries Service shall 
be commissioned by the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services for seafood examinations and inves-
tigations conducted under section 801 of the Federal 
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 381); 
(8) the sharing of information concerning ob-
served non-compliance with United States food re-
quirements domestically and in foreign countries and 
new regulatory decisions and policies that may affect 
regulatory outcomes; and 
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(9) conducting joint training on subjects that 
affect and strengthen seafood inspection effective-
ness by Federal authorities. 
SEC. 3. CERTIFIED LABORATORIES. 
Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall increase 
the number of laboratories certified to the standards of 
the Food and Drug Administration in the United States 
and in countries that export seafood to the United States 
for the purpose of analyzing seafood and ensuring that 
it complies with Federal law. Such laboratories may in-
clude Federal, State, and private facilities. The Secretary 
of commerce shall publish in the Federal Register a list 
of certified laboratories, and shall update the list, and pub-
lish the updated list, no less frequently than annually. 
SEC. 4. NOAA LABORATORIES. 
In any fiscal year beginning after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall increase 
the number and capacity of laboratories operated by the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in-
volved in carrying out testing and other activities under 
this Act to the extent the Secretary determines that in-
creased laboratory capacity is necessary to carry out the 
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provisions of this Act and as provided for in appropria-
tions Acts. 
SEC. 5. CONTAMINATED SEAFOOD. 
(a) REFUSAL OF ENTRY.—The Secretary of Health 
and Human Services shall issue an order refusing admis-
sion into the United States of all imports of seafood or 
seafood products originating from a country or exporter 
if the Secretary determines, on the basis of reliable evi-
dence, that shipments of such seafood or seafood products 
is not likely to meet the requirements of Federal law. 
(b) INCREASED TESTING.—If the Secretary deter-
mines, on the basis of reliable evidence that seafood im-
ports originating from a country may not meet the re-
quirements of Federal law, and determines that there is 
a lack of adequate certified laboratories to provide for the 
entry of shipments pursuant to section 3, then the Sec-
retary shall order an increase in the percentage of ship-
ments tested of seafood originating from such country to 
improve detection of potential violations of such require-
ments. 
(c) ALLOWANCE OF INDIVIDUAL SHIPMENTS FROM 
EXPORTING COUNTRY OR EXPORTER.—Notwithstanding 
an order under subsection (a) with respect to seafood orig-
inating from a country or exporter, the Secretary may per-
mit individual shipments of seafood originating in that 
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country or from that exporter to be admitted into the 
United States if— 
(1) the exporter presents evidence from a lab-
oratory certified by the Secretary that a shipment of 
seafood meets the requirements of Federal law; and 
(2) the Secretary, or an entity commissioned to 
carry out examinations and investigations under sec-
tion 702(a) of the Federal Food, Cosmetic, and 
Drug Act (21 U.S.C. 372(a)), has inspected the 
shipment and has found that the shipment meets the 
requirements of Federal law. 
(d) CANCELLATION OF ORDER.—The Secretary shall 
cancel an order under subsection (a) with respect to sea-
food exported from a country or exporter if all shipments 
into the United States under subsection (c) of seafood 
originating in that country or from that exporter more 
than 1 year after the date on which the Secretary issued 
the order have been found, under the procedures described 
in subsection (c), to meet the requirements of Federal law. 
If the Secretary determines that an exporter has failed 
to comply with the requirements of an order under sub-
section (a), the 1-year period in the preceding sentence 
shall run from the date of that determination rather than 
the date on which the order was issued. 
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(e) RELIABLE EVIDENCE DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘‘reliable evidence’’ includes— 
(1) the detection of failure to meet Federal law 
requirements under subsection (a) by the Secretary; 
(2) the detection of all seafood products that 
fail to meet Federal law requirements by an entity 
commissioned to carry out examinations and inves-
tigations under section 702(a) of the Federal Food, 
Cosmetic, and Drug Act (21 U.S.C. 372(a)) or a 
laboratory certified under subsection (c); 
(3) findings from an inspection team formed 
under section 6; or 
(4) the detection by other importing countries 
of non-compliance of shipments of seafood or sea-
food products that originate from the exporting 
country or exporter. 
(f) EFFECT.—This section shall be in addition to, 
and shall have no effect on, the authority of the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services under the Federal Food, 
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) with re-
spect to seafood, seafood products, or any other product. 
SEC. 6. INSPECTION TEAMS. 
The Secretary of Commerce, in cooperation with the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall send 1 or 
more inspectors to a country or exporter from which sea-
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food exported to the United States originates. The inspec-
tion team will assess whether any prohibited drug, prac-
tice, or process is being used in connection with the farm-
ing, cultivation, harvesting, preparation for market, or 
transportation of such seafood. The inspection team shall 
prepare a report for the Secretary with its findings. The 
Secretary of Commerce shall cause the report to be pub-
lished in the Federal Register no later than 90 days after 
the inspection team makes its final report. The Secretary 
of Commerce shall notify the country or exporter through 
appropriate means as to the findings of the report no later 
than the date on which the report is published in the Fed-
eral Register. A country may offer a rebuttal to the assess-
ment within 90 days after publication of the report. 
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated for each of 
fiscal years 2009 through 2013, for purposes of carrying 
out the provisions of this Act, $15,000,000. 
Æ 
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