Red Snapper Enforcment Act Reintroduced, Adds Tuna
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology would have to develop a methodology for identifying the country of origin of red snapper and some species of imported tuna, if a bipartisan bill re-introduced in the Senate becomes law.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
The senators want a field test kit to be developed that will be able to uncover whether the fish was caught in the U.S. or in foreign waters.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a press release, "Cartels and other criminal entities are illegally catching, importing, and selling red snapper and tuna to unwitting consumers then using such profits to fund other illicit activities like drug smuggling and human trafficking. I am glad to join my colleagues in introducing this common-sense, bipartisan legislation to support U.S. fishermen, and I am hopeful Congress will act quickly to stop these dangerous criminal gangs.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said, "Alabama lands 34 percent of all recreationally caught Red Snapper in the Gulf. Unfortunately, our domestic Red Snapper industry is being undermined by Mexican fishermen who are illegally catching American snapper in the Gulf, smuggling them into Mexico, and then reselling the same fish back to American consumers."
The Commerce Committee is scheduled to consider the bill next week. The bill passed the committee last year.