Under the Fiscal Year 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which was signed into law by President Trump on March 23rd, Shrimp and Abalone are required to become part of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP). The Secretary of Commerce has thirty days from the date of enactment of the Bill to announce the effective date of adding Shrimp and Abalone to SIMP, which must be before the end of the calendar year.
The Act also requires the establishment of a traceability program for U.S. inland, coastal, and marine aquaculture of Shrimp and Abalone from point of production to entry into the U.S. commerce.
The SIMP establishes, for imports of certain seafood products, the reporting and record-keeping requirements needed to prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and/or misrepresented seafood from entering U.S. commerce, thereby providing additional protections for our national economy, global food security and the sustainability of our shared ocean resources.
The information required under SIMP includes:
- Harvesting or Producing Entity
- Harvest Event – What, when and where
- Importer of Record information
- NOAA Fisheries issued International Fisheries Trade Permit (IFTP) number
The importer of record is responsible for keeping records regarding the chain of custody detailed above, information on any transshipment of product (declarations by harvesting/carrier vessels, bills of landing), and records on processing, re-processing, and commingling of product. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has advised that only parties with a U.S. domiciled address can obtain an IFTP.
SIMP currently covers:
- Atlantic Cod
- Blue Crab (Atlantic)
- Dolphinfish (Mahi Mahi)
- Grouper
- King Crab (red)
- Pacific Cod
- Red Snapper
- Sea Cucumber
- Sharks
- Swordfish
- Tunas: Albacore, Bigeye, Skipjack, Yellowfin, and Bluefin
SIMP is in its first phase and is intended to expand in the future to cover all seafood.
SIMP became mandatory as of January 1st, 2018 and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which oversees the program, initially took an informed compliance approach, which allowed shipments to be released without full SIMP information, but required it to be submitted as soon as possible. Full compliance of SIMP goes into effect as of Monday, April 9th, which will require full SIMP information before the shipment will be released by U.S. Customs & Border Protection.
Additional information on SIMP
(NOAA) Compliance Guide for SIMP
Timelines are still developing. If you have further questions on SIMP, please contact the US Transition Team at transitionus@willsonintl.044d949.netsolhost.com or 800.315.1918, option 4.