TOXIC BUFFET

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seafood caused more than one-third of foodborne illness outbreaks — and fish and shellfish individually were the cause of more outbreaks than any other single food source identified as a cause of illness. 4 Between 2004 and 2013, fish and seafood products instigated more than 540 foodborne illness outbreaks that sickened almost 5,200 people. 5 U.S. import inspectors are responsible for ensuring the safety of the seafood that Americans eat. Seafood consumption has grown modestly over the years, but seafood imports have skyrocketed, driven largely by international trade deals that have globalized the seafood industry. Since 1995, when the largest trade deals went into effect, U.S. seafood consumption has grown by about 1 percent annually, but seafood imports have jumped by 84 percent — more than 4 percent a year (see Figure 1 on page 3). 6 In 2015, the United States imported 5.5 billion pounds of fish and seafood products. 7 The rising tide of imports now represents the vast majority of seafood that Americans eat — 94 percent in 2014. 8 Half of these imports are not wild-caught but are farm-raised in squalid conditions in ponds and river cages. 9 Americans are largely unaware of the health concerns associated with imported farmed fish. High-density fish farms frequently use antibiotics and chemicals to combat disease outbreaks in the crowded, unsanitary conditions that foster bacteria and parasites. To fight these diseases, many major fish farming countries use veterinary drugs and fungicides that are unapproved in the United States. The FDA is increasingly concerned that U.S. fish imports contain residues of these drugs and chemicals, which can cause cancer and allergic reactions and contribute to the creation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. 10 U.S. border inspectors do not examine enough imports to find these unapproved and dangerous chemicals and other food safety problems on imported fish. FDA officials have blamed past trade deals for the steep increase in imports that have overtaxed the ability of U.S. border inspectors to protect the food supply. 11 Proposed trade deals like the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership would only further increase the volume of imported fish and overtax U.S. border inspectors. Seafood Imports Rise, Inspections Barely Keep Pace U.S. border inspectors struggle to keep up with the massive volume of products coming across the border, making it harder to prevent pathogens, filth and antibiotic residues on seafood from entering the food supply. Much of the increase in imports was facilitated by international trade deals that went into effect in the mid 1990s, bringing 4 Food & Water Watch • foodandwaterwatch.org
cheap — and often risky — fish imports. In 1995, just over half (54 percent) of fish consumed in the United States was imported. By 2014, 94 percent of the seafood that Americans ate was imported. 12 Figure 2: Import Share of Selected Seafood, 2014 DOMESTIC IMPORTED Imports make up the vast majority of many kinds of commonly eaten fish and seafood products (see Figure 2). 13 Shrimp is the most popular seafood in the United States — consumption doubled over the past 30 years — and while shrimp make up one-fourth of the seafood that Americans eat, 93 percent of that shrimp was imported. 14 80% 83% 87% 93% The U.S. import safety inspection system is unable to ensure that imported seafood is safe. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported that, “Given the volume of imports into the country, there is considerable potential for violative items — products that do not meet U.S. safety standards or labeling requirements — to enter the U.S. food supply.” 15 The FDA is responsible for inspecting virtually all imported fish. 16 But the FDA lacks the resources necessary to inspect and sample all — or even a sufficiently large sample of — seafood imports. 17 Instead, the FDA focuses on the imports that it believes are the riskiest. This strategy may prevent some of the most dangerous seafood imports from entering the food supply, but the FDA’s pitifully low level of inspection cannot guarantee that all dangerous imports are blocked at the border. The FDA also performs far too few inspections of foreign seafood processors and exporters — fewer than 90 annual inspections of 17,000 foreign seafood plants. 18 Salmon Canned Tuna SOURCE: NOAA; Auburn University; imported tuna share includes imported tuna canned in United States. Figure 3: Percent of Seafood Imports That Are Inspected More importantly, the absence of statistically valid random testing means that the FDA cannot be certain that the uninspected seafood is safe to eat. The FDA uses a computer program to screen seafood import risks based on the type of fish, the safety record of the exporting company, foreign inspection records (if any), the country of origin and the safety history of the importing company. 19 If the FDA determines that an import shipment poses a safety risk, it can physically inspect the shipment and take a sample for laboratory analysis. 20 But the steady surge of imported seafood has overtaxed the FDA’s border inspectors. There are fewer than 100 FDA inspectors assigned to examine the 5.5 billion pounds of imported seafood — meaning that each inspector monitors 220,000 pounds of seafood every day. 21 EU Japan Canada USA 12-21% 2-15% LESS THAN 2% 20-50% Food & Water Watch found that the FDA inspected less than 2 percent of seafood import shipments between 2006 and 2015. Although the number of inspections has risen SOURCE: F&WW analysis of FDA FOIA data; Love; see endnote 22. Toxic Buffet: How the TPP Trades Away Seafood Safety
Page 1 and 2: TOXIC BUFFET HOW THE TPP TRADES AWA
Page 3 and 4: TOXIC BUFFET HOW THE TPP TRADES AWA
Page 5: • Salmonella, Listeria, filth and
Page 9 and 10: We know that the FDA’s inspection
Page 11 and 12: Since 2000, worldwide fish farming
Page 13 and 14: To combat these pervasive diseases,
Page 15 and 16: Figure 10: 70 Total Seafood Exporte
Page 17 and 18: annually, and few domestic processi
Page 19 and 20: Illegal Veterinary and Veterinary
Page 21 and 22: eries and aquaculture sector study.
Page 23 and 24: More Food & Water Watch Research on

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