USA: New requirements for the export of prawn and abalone species to the USA (2018-05)

Date of issue: May 2018

Date of effect: 31 December 2018

Attention:

Seafood Export Consultative Committee
Export establishments (including vessels) preparing fish and fish products for export to the USA
Licensed exporters
Department of Agriculture and Water Resources—Central and Regional offices

Purpose

To notify exporters of advice from the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA Fisheries) of the addition of prawn and abalone species to requirements for documentation when exporting some species of fish to the USA (see MAA 2017-10: USA: New requirements for the export of some fish species to the USA).

Summary of key points

• The United States of America (USA) has implemented a Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIM) to be administered by NOAA Fisheries to curb Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing practices and identify misrepresented seafood imports before they enter the US Market.
• The SIM program requires importers to provide information and maintain records about the harvest, landing and chain of custody of imported fish and fish products for certain priority species identified as especially vulnerable to IUU fishing and seafood fraud.
• As of 1 January 2018, exports of some species of fish to the USA need to be accompanied by additional information to enable importers to report and maintain the required records.
• The priority species included in the SIM program has been expanded to include species of prawn and abalone. As of 31 December 2018 additional information will be required to gain entry of product to the US:
  • Prawns (all species)
  • Abalone (all species).
• This additional information is required for some but not all products prepared from prawn and abalone species and includes live, chilled, frozen and some highly processed products but not all (i.e. products containing prawn meat are included but not fish oil, sauces, sticks, balls or fish cakes prepared from prawn).
• A list of Harmonised Tariff Schedule Codes (HTS Codes) to which this rule applies is provided at Attachment 2.

How do I know if I need to provide additional information?

Exporters are strongly encouraged to confirm the requirement for additional information with their importers. A table of priority prawn and abalone species fished in Australia as identified in EXDOC including the corresponding 3-Alpha species codes required by US importers is provided at Attachment 1.

This information is required as of 31 December 2018, when should I start collecting information?

If you intend to export prawn or abalone to the US after 31 December 2018 that has been prepared from product being harvested or processed prior to that date, you should start to obtain records in preparation for export from your harvesters, processors and shippers.

The information provided in this advice is current at the time of writing and is intended for use as guidance only and should not be taken as definitive or exhaustive. The Commonwealth endeavours to keep information current and accurate, however, it may be subject to change without notice. Exporters are encouraged to verify these details with their importers prior to undertaking production/exports. The Commonwealth will not accept liability for any loss resulting from reliance on information contained in this notice.

Further information

Contact Dairy Eggs and Fish if you have any queries.

Attachment 1

Product types included:
Prawns—chilled, frozen, whole, peeled, breaded, prepared, products containing prawn meat, prepared meals containing prawn meat
Abalone—live, chilled, frozen, prepared/preserved, prepared dinners

^s Indicate majority species

Attachment 2