Southern Shrimp Alliance Notes FDA Has Increased Entry-Line Refusals of Indonesian Shrimp in 2025
The Southern Shrimp Alliance, a trade group representing shrimp harvesters and shrimp processors in eight Southern states, observed that the FDA has notably increased entry-line refusals of imported Indonesian shrimp in 2025, according to an Aug. 18 post on its website.
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 trade group also provided commentary on the FDA's decision to restrict the import of Indonesian shrimp from one company (see 2508150051). While the alliance didn't give an opinion on the FDA's actions, it noted that the agency gave "disturbing reasons" for its crackdown.
"There has been no explanation as to why Cs-137 [cesium-137, a byproduct of nuclear testing], would be present in Indonesian shrimp exported from BMS to the United States," the alliance said, referring to Indonesian company BMS, which is the only company on Import Alert 99-51. According to the alliance, the FDA previously stated in public comments about the release of radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan that Cs-137 doesn't accumulate in seafood.
However, the alliance noted, after graphing annual totals of entry-line refusals of Indonesian shrimp by the FDA for 10 years, that "the problems that the FDA has found with Indonesian shrimp this year extend well beyond radioactive isotopes. ... The FDA has refused an extraordinary number of entry lines of Indonesian shrimp." According to the graph, the FDA has given a total of 58 entry-line refusals so far in 2025, compared with 27 in 2024 and 44 in 2023.
The refusals represent a variety of reasons, from nitrofurans to veterinary drug residues, to contamination with salmonella and for being deemed "filthy," the alliance said. Recent shipments also were rejected for allegedly adding bulk, or failing to bear accurate statements regarding weight, measures or numerical counts.
Separately, the FDA warned in an Aug. 19 alert that consumers in 13 states in the South and Midwest shouldn't eat or serve certain raw frozen shrimp products sold at Walmart, and that distributors and retailers shouldn't sell or serve them but should dispose of the products.