Bipartisan legislation aimed at strengthening the nation's food safety system is advancing in both the House and Senate, a move the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) says could help prevent hazardous imported seafood from re-entering the U.S. market.
The Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act (H.R. 2715 and S. 3213) would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to destroy imported food products that pose significant public health risks rather than allowing exporters to re-export the shipments. According to the SSA, current law allows refused products to be shipped elsewhere and potentially routed back into the United States through another port.
The House version of the bill, sponsored by Reps. Clay Higgins, R-La., and Troy Carter, D-La., has been placed on the House suspension calendar for the week of July 20, where it will be considered under an expedited process reserved for broadly bipartisan legislation.
Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is scheduled to mark up the Making America's Food Safer Act on July 22. Sponsored by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., the broader package incorporates much of the Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act while also expanding information sharing between the FDA and state and local agencies and strengthening the agency's third-party certification program.
The SSA said the legislation addresses a longstanding concern for the U.S. shrimp industry. The organization regularly tracks FDA refusals of imported shrimp containing banned antibiotics, including nitrofurans and chloramphenicol, and noted that FDA has also refused a range of imported seafood products this fiscal year because of prohibited veterinary drugs, salmonella, listeria and other contaminants.
According to the SSA, FDA refusal data for fiscal year 2026 includes rejected imports of shrimp, scallops, crab, oysters, clams, salmon, tilapia, grouper, eel and other seafood products due to contamination or the presence of banned substances.
"As we confront the outbreak of foodborne illness across the country, Americans understand the importance of ensuring the safety of our food supply," said Blake Price, executive director of the SSA. "The U.S. shrimp industry has long advocated for allowing the FDA to destroy dangerous imports and has worked with broad coalitions to promote the passage of authorizing legislation. Food products adulterated with antibiotics and other poisons or contaminated with dangerous pathogens should be destroyed. Anything less gives unscrupulous exporters the opportunity to continue to exploit weaknesses in our food safety system."
