State Dept. Issues Annual List of Countries Certified to Export Shrimp to US, Removes Mexico
The State Department on April 30 published its updated list of countries certified to have a regulatory program for protection of sea turtles that is comparable to that of the U.S., or to fish in conditions that pose no risk to sea turtles, and therefore eligible to export shrimp to the U.S. without a certification from a government official on State Form DS-2031. Notably, the agency removed Mexico from the list, after finding its sea turtle protection program is no longer comparable to that of the U.S., meaning Mexican shrimp can only by imported if harvested from aquaculture. The notice takes effect April 30.
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Finland also requested its removal from the list because it does not export shrimp. Otherwise, the list is unchanged. Countries with a comparable regulatory program including Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Gabon, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama and Suriname. Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Uruguay harvest in an environment that poses no risk; and the Bahamas, Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Oman, Peru and Sri Lanka employ practices that don’t pose a risk to sea turtles, State said.
State is also authorizing importation of shrimp under certain circumstances for certain uncertified countries, and will require certification from a government official from these countries on DS-2031. That includes shrimp harvested using turtle excluder devices from Australia's Northern Prawn Fishery, Queensland East Coast Trawl Fishery, and Torres Strait Prawn Fishery; French Guiana's domestic trawl fishery; and the fisheries of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Johor in Malaysia. It also applies without the turtle excluder device requirement to shrimp harvested in the Spencer Gulf region in Australia, with shrimp baskets in Hokkaido, Japan, with “mosquito” nets in the Republic of Korea, and Mediterranean red shrimp (Aristeus antennatus) harvested in the Mediterranean Sea by Spain.