From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Imported Seafood Safety Description: This episode explores FDA's role in ensuring the safety of our imported seafood. Related GAO Work: GAO-20-62: Imported Seafood Safety: Actions Needed to Improve FDA Oversight of Import Alert Removal Decisions Released: December 2019 [ Background Music ] [ Steve Morris: ] FDA was not aware that it was not even meeting its oversight responsibilities because it--it really doesn't track or monitoring its testing or inspection. [ Matt Oldham: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I'm Matt Oldham. More than 90 percent of all of the seafood Americans eat is imported but not all of it makes it to the market. The Food and Drug Administration removes imported seafood that violates federal safety laws. And here to talk about a GAO report on the FDA's oversight of seafood imports is Steve Morris, a Natural Resources and Environment director. Thanks for joining me, Steve. [ Steve Morris: ] Good morning, Matt. [ Matt Oldham: ] So, Steve, what our import alerts and how many importers in countries are affected by them? [ Steve Morris: ] Yeah, Matt, well import alerts are basically designed to stop foreign products that fail to meet our food safety standards from entering the U.S. So, for example, if the FDA has reason to believe that a shipment of imported shrimp is unsafe because it contains unapproved drug residues or is contaminated by salmonella, it will be stopped at the port of entry and then placed on an alert. The importer will then need to prove that the product is safe before FDA will even consider lifting the alert and allowing the product into the U.S. So, if you look at the numbers for 2018, FDA had 52 active import alerts for seafood and those were linked to about 3,700 foreign businesses in about 111 countries. [ Matt Oldham: ] So, how does the FDA identify companies or products for these import alerts? [ Steve Morris: ] Well, FDA identifies the products of businesses to place on the alerts through essentially product testing and inspections of facilities. So, for example, FDA can place a seafood product on an alert if it's--in its testing, it detects any drug residues above an acceptable limit. FDA can also place a foreign business on an alert if it conducts an inspection and finds violation of U.S. food safety laws. [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] So, it sounds like of the active alerts that the FDA places on companies over the years that we've seen, this has been the result of sampling and inspections that the FDA carries out. Do we know how much of our imported seafood the FDA examines? [ Steve Morris: ] Well, it--it examines a relatively small amount and there may be other data that FDA uses to make--they make that determination. If there's any concern or suspicion about a product, the FDA is not going to let it through. [ Matt Oldham: ] So, did you find any problems or issues with the FDA's import alert system? [ Steve Morris: ] Well, unfortunately, yes, Matt. And really, the issue here is that before removing an import alert, FDA--their own policies require them to conduct what's considered follow-up tests and an inspection of those products and businesses on the--on the alert essentially to ensure that the food safety concern was adequately addressed. But when we took a look at some removal decisions that we found that there were some issues. So, for example, we looked at 274 removal decisions, and FDA only conducted testing and inspections in about 5 percent of those 274 cases, so only in about 14 cases did it actually do any kind of follow-up of testing or inspection. Another concern here is that FDA was not aware that was--that it was not even meeting its oversight responsibilities because it--it really doesn't track or monitoring its testing or inspection. So, looking at all that, you know, we think that FDA really needs to establish a process that would provide some greater assurance to the agency that it's conducting the appropriate level of oversight and also better ensure that the food that is coming in isis meeting food safety standards. [ Matt Oldham: ] So, what's the bottom line of this report? [ Steve Morris: ] Well, you know, FDA import alerts are definitely an important tool to help ensure the safety of imported food, including seafood. You know, to FDA's credit, they're working hard towards that end, but we think they can do more make more effective use of these alerts. And we think that establishing a process to monitor their activities to support their import alert decisions is a key step forward. [ Matt Oldham: ] Steve Morris was talking about a GAO report looking at FDA's efforts to ensure the safety of imported seafood. Thank you for your time, Steve. [ Steve Morris: ] Thanks, Matt. [ Matt Oldham: ] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple podcasts. For more from the Congressional Watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, visit us at gao.gov.