The Food and Drug Administration has announced that, effective Oct. 31, it will require import certification for shrimp and spices from certain regions of Indonesia based on the risk of potential contamination with Cesium-137. This requirement applies to such goods from the island of Java or Lampung Province on the island of Sumatra.
The FDA states that under the Food Safety Modernization Act it can require certification or other assurance that imported food meets U.S. requirements before the food can leave the port of export for shipment to the U.S. The FDA may use this authority to address ongoing and repeated food safety problems through additional oversight before shipment.
According to the FDA, this is the first time the agency has used this authority and follows U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s detection of high levels of Cesium-137 in multiple shipments of shrimp and in a sample of cloves from certain regions of Indonesia as well as a confirmation of contamination by the FDA's laboratory.
The FDA has issued an import alert that creates a tiered approach with different certification requirements based on contamination risk levels. The agency has also created a new webpage that provides additional information about its import certification authority, including when the FDA may use it, the certification process, and how it complements existing import oversight tools.
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