Obama Administration Calls for More Import Data, Tariff Changes to Combat Fishing, Seafood Fraud

The Obama administration made those recommendations public in December (see 1412160062). They include calls for a traceability program, strengthened species identification, tariff revisions, stronger enforcement, focus on fraud in trade agreements, and implementation of a United Nations agreement on illegal fishing.

As part of the rollout of the plan, fish and seafood traders may have to provide more information in the future on the products they import into the U.S., building off Food and Drug Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data requirements already in place, said the administration. The Obama administration called for a mechanism for all U.S. agencies to access that data. "It will be critical to this effort to knit together the information collected by these agencies and others and leverage their respective authorities, while ensuring that other federal agencies have access to that information and identifying the domestic and international gaps in information," said the action plan. "The program will initially be applied to seafood products of particular concern because the species at issue are subject to significant seafood fraud or because they are at significant risk of being caught by IUU fishing."

The Obama administration aims to start collecting the data between April and September, the action plan said. The agencies will target the following specific pieces of information:

• who harvested or produced the fish (e.g., name and flag State of harvesting vessel and/or farm facility, type of fishing gear)
• what species was harvested (e.g., species name, form, and quantity of the product)
• where and when the seafood was harvested and landed (e.g., ocean area of catch, farm location, date of harvest, date/point of first landing)

The action plan also calls for a new rule to outline additional data required at time of entry, to be filed through the International Trade Data System, should NOAA, CBP and FDA determine there is a need. That new rule should be effective by September 2016, said the plan.

Among other steps needed to put the administration recommendations into effect, the plan pushes the Commerce Department and DHS to develop a voluntary trusted trader program for fish and seafood importers by September 2016. That voluntary program would reduce inspections and streamline entry into the U.S. market, said the plan. The plan also directs the Department of Homeland Security to land customs mutual assistance agreements with international partners to monitor and detect fraud.

The administration also urged the International Trade Commission and other agencies to increase the specificity of HTS provisions for seafood to “help enforcement officials focus limited resources on shipments more likely to contain IUU seafood as well as help to protect against seafood fraud." The plan set series of deadlines in 2015 for HTS revisions, and establishes a working group to tackle those changes.

The plan also calls on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to lock down in 2015 a Trans-Pacific Partnership that includes provisions to combat fishing and seafood fraud, and urges similar language in future free trade agreements. The administration is also urging Congress to work to ratify the 2009 UN agreement, named the Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, during the course of 2015.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman applauded the action plan, and said TPP provides an ideal forum to crack down on fishing and seafood fraud. “When complete, TPP will promote long term conservation of marine resources, including sharks and other threatened species,” said Froman (here). “Not only will these commitments enhance environmental protections, but they will also help safeguard communities and families whose livelihood is put at risk when illegal fishing and harmful fisheries subsidies deplete environmentally and economically-important fish stocks.” TPP negotiators wrapped up a round of talks in Hawaii over recent days, but USTR hasn’t come forward with an update on progress.

Meanwhile, the National Fisheries Institute also praised the plan, but expressed concern over “execution, duplication of existing government efforts and funding,” the organization said in an emailed press release. NFI also urged the administration to ensure legal seafood trade isn’t impacted by the action plan measures. “Consideration of changing regulations, like using the common name of fish, rather than the market name, should be avoided in order not to confuse shoppers while costing producers, processors, restaurants, retailers and ultimately consumers,” said NFI President John Connelly. The NFI appeals “to the agencies now tasked with carrying out these recommendations to do so with a cost-effective, targeted approach. Expanding the program outside of at-risk species makes little tactical sense and even less fiscal sense.”