FDA to Require Indonesian Shrimp and Spices to Have Import Certification
Starting Oct. 31, the FDA will require import certification for shrimp and spices from certain regions of Indonesia, citing a perceived contamination risk of food with Cesium-137, the FDA said on Oct. 3.
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The action marks the "first use" of the authority in the Food Safety Modernization Act to "require certification or other assurance that imported food meets U.S. requirements before the food can leave the port of export for shipment to the U.S."
Import certification will be required for shrimp from the Island of Java and Lampung Province on the Island of Sumatra in Indonesia and for spices from the Island of Java and Lampung Province on the Island of Sumatra in Indonesia.
The FDA's Import Alert 99-52 says the requirement comes after CBP detected high levels of Cesium-137 in multiple shipments of shrimp and in a sample of cloves from certain regions of Indonesia. The FDA's laboratories confirmed CBP's finding.
"Potential Cs-137 contamination sources include radioactive contamination discovered in Serpong, Banten Province in 2020, ongoing investigations revealing airborne radioactive debris from metal smelting facilities, and contamination risks identified in the Island of Java and the Province of Lampung in the island of Sumatra," the FDA said.
In August, the FDA created Import Alert 99-51, which warned of food contaminated by cesium-137 (see 2508150051). In that alert, the FDA said shrimp products from Indonesian company Bahari Makmur Sejati must undergo physical examination or otherwise face detention. In September, spice company Natural Java Spice was added to that list of companies whose products warrant additional scrutiny.