March 2012

The annual International Boston Seafood Show is today and tomorrow at the Boston Convention Center.  The Show attracts 19,000 visitors, and is the largest seafood show in North America.  See www.bostonseafood.com.  I am again lecturing on the Food Safety and Compliance Track with emphasis on the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011: What every food importer and customs broker needs to know – now.

My topic is “Food Safety Compliance under the New Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011.”  My fellow panelists discussing the FSMA, and import safety generally, include Ted Poplawski from the FDA, Judith Webster from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Howard Tennen from Quirch Foods, Dean Leaman of ABC Research Laboratories, and Dan Fone of NSF International.  Since 80% of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported, compliance with the food safety laws and regulations that have now been implemented by the FDA, in cooperation with CBP, is critical.

There were a record number of FDA Import Alerts for seafood in 2011, and a higher number of imported shipments of seafood are now the subject of Detention Without Physical Examination (DWPE). What is surprising to many people is that the seafood is not just being stopped and inspected from China, but also Vietnam, Chile, and Canada, to name a few.  Moreover, seafood fraud in many forms such as species substitution or false country of origin to avoid the payment of anti-dumping duties is now being discovered by the FDA, CBP, and NOAA.  Criminal prosecutions and civil penalties by […]