FDA Signs Regulatory Cooperation Agreement on Shrimp With Ecuador
The FDA has signed a Regulatory Partnership Arrangement (RPA) with Ecuador's seafood regulatory authority, the Vice Ministry of Aquaculture and Fisheries, to "strengthen food safety in shrimp intended for the U.S. market" and as a way to "reinforce food safety practices along the entire supply chain," the FDA said in a recent update. Ecuador is a top exporter of shrimp to the U.S.
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This regulatory partnership, the first of its kind, is to focus on "commodity-specific oversight" systems, this time involving imported shrimp, and pair that with data and information to "strengthen food safety before and at the port of entry," the update said.
As part of the arrangement, the FDA and the VMAF signed a confidentiality commitment and the FDA did an assessment of Ecuador's seafood safety system. Included in that assessment, the FDA looked at the "important parts of VMAF’s programs and capabilities." That review focused on "Ecuador’s regulatory framework for shrimp," including the legal framework, the inspection and enforcement, the verification and audit programs, the disease prevention and surveillance programs, illness outbreak response, training, and laboratory resources. The FDA said that the assessment makes it confident that Ecuador has the "key components" of a food safety oversight system for shrimp and for shrimp intended to be exported to the U.S.
"As a result of the assessment, the FDA will be able to leverage data and information from Ecuador for our regulatory decision making," the FDA said. "As well, Ecuador will leverage data analytics from FDA to inform their regulatory activities."
The new RPA says how the FDA and VMAF will share information on "best practices, food safety policies, and regulatory approaches" for food safety of shrimp, to help respond to any "adverse food safety events," to promote and conduct training on shrimp food safety, and to participate in shrimp "inspections, audits, and investigations," the update said.
Both the FDA and the VMAF have been providing each other with information. The FDA began after the confidentiality agreement was signed in late August, and the VMAF began sharing information in response.