The State Department has determined that wild-caught shrimp harvested in dozens of nations or fisheries is eligible to enter the U.S. Imports of wild-caught shrimp from any nation or fishery without a certification or determination, as outlined below, will not be allowed.
Section 609 of Public Law 101-162 prohibits the importation of wild-caught shrimp or products from shrimp harvested with commercial fishing technology unless State certifies to Congress that (1) the harvesting nation has adopted a regulatory program governing the incidental taking of relevant species of sea turtles in the course of commercial shrimp harvesting that is comparable to the program in effect in the U.S. and has an average incidental take rate comparable to that of the U.S. or (2) the particular fishing environment of the harvesting nation does not pose a threat of the incidental taking of sea turtles in the course of shrimp harvesting. State makes certifications annually and bases them in part on verification visits to exporting countries.
Certified Nations. This year State certified 11 nations as having sea turtle protection programs comparable to that of the U.S.: Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Gabon, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, and Suriname.
In addition, State certified 25 nations and one economy as having fishing environments that do not pose a threat to sea turtles. Of these, the Bahamas, Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Oman, Peru, and Sri Lanka only harvest shrimp using small boats with crews of less than five that use manual rather than mechanical means to retrieve nets, or catch shrimp using other methods that do not threaten sea turtles. Another 16 nations have shrimping grounds only in cold waters where the risk of taking sea turtles is negligible: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay.
Uncertified Nations. For shrimp and products of shrimp harvested with turtle excluder devices in an uncertified nation to be eligible for importation into the U.S. under the exemption for shrimp harvested by commercial shrimp trawl vessels using TEDs comparable in effectiveness to those required in the U.S., State must determine in advance that the government of the harvesting nation has put in place adequate procedures to monitor the use of TEDs in the specific fishery in question and ensure the accurate completion of the DS-2031 forms.
At this time, State has determined that only shrimp and shrimp products harvested in the following areas are eligible for entry under this provision.
- Australia: northern prawn fishery, Queensland East Coast trawl fishery, Torres Strait prawn fishery
- French Guiana: domestic trawl fishery
State has suspended its previous determinations for the Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, and Johor fisheries in Malaysia, effective for shipments with dates of export on June 1 or later.
State has also determined that the following types of shrimp and products thereof may be imported into the U.S. under the exemption for shrimp harvested in a manner or under circumstances determined not to pose a threat of the incidental taking of sea turtles.
- shrimp harvested in the Spencer Gulf region in Australia
- shrimp harvested with mosquito nets in South Korea
- Mediterranean red shrimp harvested in the Mediterranean Sea by Spain
- shrimp harvested with shrimp baskets in Hokkaido, Japan
- giant red shrimp harvested in Italy
A completed form DS-2031, Shrimp Exporter’s/Importer’s Declaration, must accompany all shipments of shrimp and shrimp products into the U.S. For imports from certified nations, information provided on this form may instead be submitted through the Automated Commercial Environment. For imports from uncertified nations, DS-2031 forms must be originals with the appropriate box checked and signed by a responsible government official of the harvesting nation.
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