- To : Automated Broker Interface, Partner Government Agencies, EDI
Subject: Food Safety & Inspection Service Notification Regarding Siluriforme Fish and Fish Product
FSIS is notifying you that between April 15, 2016, and September 1, 2017, FSIS will select a
subset of imported shipments of Siluriformes fish and fish products for reinspection, which will include testing for species, chemical residues, and Salmonella. Beginning September 1, 2017, FSIS will reinspect all shipments of imported Siluriformes fish and fish products, just as we reinspect all shipments of imported meat, poultry, and egg products. FSIS is providing the transitional period from April 15, 2016, to September 1, 2017 to ensure that importers, customs brokers, and other stakeholders have ample time to prepare and comply with FSIS’s mandatory reinspection requirements.
During the transitional period, shipments of imported Siluriformes fish and fish products from eligible countries/establishments (listed on FSIS Siluriformes Webpage at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/inspection/siluriformes) will not display any FSIS flags requiring submission of electronic data or paper certificates at the border. FSIS will select specific shipments for reinspection and will notify customs brokers verbally when a specific shipment has been selected. For rail, truck, and air shipments, FSIS may target a shipment of interest by the time of arrival or CBP release, whichever is later. For ocean shipments, a decision will be made within 48 hours from the time of entry filing. In any mode, if you are not notified by FSIS that your Siluriformes fish shipment has been selected for reinspection within the timeframe previously mentioned, it will not need to be presented at an official import inspection establishment for FSIS reinspection and can move in commerce after all other government agency requirements that apply to the entry ( e.g., CBP) have been met. It is important to note that during the transitional period, if your shipment is not selected for reinspection by FSIS, you will not receive an electronic communication that your shipment may proceed in commerce, as was the standard practice of FDA. Importers and customs brokers are encouraged to file the entry as soon as possible to ensure that logistics of the selected shipments can be accommodated.
The 2008 and 2014 Farm Bills mandated the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspection of Siluriformes fish and fish products. On December 2, 2015, FSIS published the final rule, “Mandatory Inspection of Fish of the Order Siluriformes and Products Derived from Such Fish,” which can be accessed on the FSIS website at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/regulations/federal-register/interim-and-final-rules. As the final rule explains, fish of the order Siluriformes are amenable to the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA, 21 U.S.C. 601(w) (2)), and the rule establishes the mandatory reinspection program and its regulatory requirements. Additional information regarding the FSIS siluriformes inspection program, including importing and exporting, can be found at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/inspection/siluriformes.