Molluscan shellfish from Europe to be back on the US market
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declared molluscan shellfish imported from Europe as safe as the local products harvested in the USA. Still, trade of raw shellfish is not to be resumed at least for a year as both sides are working closely on administrative procedures to comply with one another on food safety requirements.
The FDA has published a proposed determination that the safety controls in the European Union (EU) are equivalent to U.S. regulations. In a separate but complementary action, the European Commission is completing administrative procedures for its own proposed determination that U.S. safety controls are equivalent to those in the EU, a necessary step toward resuming trade informs Food Safety News.
"I plan to announce more over the coming year about this proposed equivalence determination as we continue to work with the EU on the details for resuming mutually beneficial trade in this area. In the meantime, I’m committed to taking new approaches like this to maximize our shared resources and create greater efficiency in the trade of molluscan shellfish", said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.
If this progress is to be maintained, clams, mussels, oysters, and scallops from both sides of the Atlantic can be traded between EU and the US, helping both U.S. and EU exporters by creating new market access as well as making a wider selection of healthy and safe shellfish options available to consumers.
US companies based in Washington and Massachusetts have stopped bivalve molluscan shellfish exports to Europe since 2010. On the other hand, Spain and the Netherlands have not exported the same raw products on the US market since 1980.
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