NOAA Expands Seafood Import Monitoring to Combat Seafood Fraud
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA Fisheries) has announced a proposed rule to expand the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP), a risk-based program for targeted species of seafood imported into the U.S. Expanding SIMP would increase the number of species included in the program from approximately 1,100 individual species to approximately 1,670 individual species.
SIMP currently establishes reporting and recordkeeping requirements for nearly half of all U.S. seafood imports to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and misrepresented seafood from entering U.S. commerce. SIMP provides a screening and deterrent tool for IUU fish, fish products, and misrepresented seafood products entering the U.S.