Photo: EU Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

NOAA Fisheries Announces Action Plan to Enhance the U.S. Seafood Import Monitoring Program

UNITED STATES
Wednesday, November 20, 2024, 00:10 (GMT + 9)

After gathering feedback from more than 7,000 stakeholders, NOAA shaped an action plan focused on combating illegal fishing and enhancing seafood traceability.

In November 2023, NOAA Fisheries launched a comprehensive review of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) to explore opportunities for improvement. We engaged with a diverse set of more than 7,000 stakeholders, including seafood industry professionals, foreign governments, researchers, and civil society groups. We gathered feedback on how to enhance the program’s effectiveness. This input shaped an action plan designed to strengthen its impact, focusing on combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and bolstering seafood traceability.

While implementing the action plan, we will continue to support industry to minimize disruptions in seafood supply chains, reduce compliance challenges, identify supply chain risks, and increase confidence in the process. NOAA Administrator and Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, Dr. Richard Spinrad states, “Our goals are to strengthen the U.S. domestic seafood industry by promoting fair trade practices in the global seafood supply chain while building capacity to maintain and grow the Program.  Once implemented, the changes to our Seafood Import Monitoring Program that we are announcing will fundamentally improve our ability to prevent and deter IUU fish and fish products from entering our market and will contribute to U.S. government efforts to address labor abuses in the seafood supply chain.”

Key Action Plan Goals

We will begin to implement parts of its action plan now, while other components will take more time. “NOAA Fisheries remains committed to implementing an impactful tool in the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing while upholding the integrity of U.S. seafood imports,” said Alexa Cole, Director of the Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce at NOAA Fisheries. Throughout this process, the existing SIMP requirements and reporting obligations will remain in effect.

The actions outlined in the plan aim to achieve several key goals:

Enhance NOAA Fisheries’ Ability to Combat IUU Fishing Through Improved Traceability and Risk Detection, Strengthening the Sustainability of Seafood Globally

We aim to improve seafood traceability and prevent IUU fish and fish products from entering U.S. markets. Key planned actions include:

• Expanding SIMP traceability requirements to all U.S. seafood imports by creating a two-tier system that prioritizes species based on their risk level
• Enabling pre-entry screening of SIMP imports
• Developing a pilot program for a voluntary government-to-government import data program

Contribute to Government-Wide Efforts to Address Forced Labor in the Global Seafood Supply Chain

We will work with partner agencies to take a more proactive approach to identify and prevent products produced with forced labor from entering the U.S. market. This includes:

• Strengthening partnerships with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Labor 
• Collecting additional data to address forced labor risks in seafood supply chains

“With improved data sharing, transparency, and traceability, SIMP will elevate U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s ability to protect the U.S. economy, global food security, and the sustainability of our shared ocean resources to a new level.  Having more information about seafood shipments earlier in the process will also strengthen our efforts to combat forced labor in the global seafood supply chain,” said AnnMarie R. Highsmith, Executive Assistant Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Trade.

Strengthen the Integrity and Fairness of Global Seafood Supply Chains by Promoting Fair Seafood Trade Practices Around the World

To promote fair trade, the program will address administrative challenges and simplify reporting procedures. This includes:

• Updating permitting and reporting procedures
• Modifying current data requirements
• Developing additional SIMP compliance materials
• Modernizing the National Permit System

Improve Implementation and Build Capacity to Maintain and Grow the Program

We are strengthening our internal operations by stabilizing and expanding the program team and enhancing data systems to better process and analyze seafood import information. These improvements will increase the program's ability to identify risks and conduct more thorough reviews.

“The NOAA Fisheries action plan serves as a roadmap to bolster and enhance SIMP. We are fully committed to strengthening confidence in the process, driving greater transparency, and maximizing its overall effectiveness,” says Janet Coit, NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator. 

Next Steps

We are prioritizing the implementation of these changes, with plans to issue a proposed rule, with an opportunity for public comment.

A final rule will follow thereafter, with internal improvements rolling out as resources allow.

We will host webinars to discuss the action plan and next steps on November 15 at 2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT/9:00 AM HST and November 20 at 2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT/9:00 AM HST. For those unable to attend a webinar, a podcast will be available on our website November 21, 2024.

For questions, contact: [email protected]

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