In an op-ed late last week, McCain said that for three weeks he and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) had asked for a vote on their amendment to scrap the “absurd Catfish Office,” which has yet to inspect any catfish, but “despite repeated requests” the chair and ranking member of the Agriculture Committee, Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Thad Cochran (R-MS), blocked a vote.
Southern state lawmakers succeeded in getting a provision in the 2008 farm bill to move catfish from under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to USDA to help protect domestic catfish farmers from the flood of cheap foreign imports, but the move has been bogged down in the details and politics. Despite having already spent about $20 million on the initiative, USDA has not yet implemented catfish inspection, five years later.
A spokesman for FSIS told Food Safety News that the agency currently has a “core staff” of four people working on “further policy development in anticipation of potential implementation of the catfish inspection program,” but since developing a proposed rule in 2011 the Office of Catfish Inspection has been folded into other program areas.
The Government Accountability Office has repeatedly called the program a waste of taxpayer dollars because it is “duplicative” and because it would focus on Salmonella, which is not an issue with catfish, and not illegal drug residues, which could be a real concern.
“They want you to think Americans have been eating unsafe foreign catfish (it's just catfish, of course) even though the FDA, the CDC, and the USDA itself say that's untrue. Out of the 1.8 billion catfish enjoyed by Americans each year, only two illnesses are reported on average,” wrote McCain for Politico last week.
“I obviously support maintaining a safe food supply,” added McCain. “But seafood inspections already fall under FDA's jurisdiction, which requires foreign catfish farms to follow the same food-safety standards as domestic farms. Unless catfish have suddenly sprouted legs, USDA should stick to meat, poultry and egg inspections.”
FDA has also been called out by GAO for having inadequate oversight over imported seafood in general — an increasingly critical issue as nearly 90 percent of seafood consumed in the U.S. is now imported.
The Senate had voted for an amendment to scrap the program last summer, the last time it considered a version of the farm bill, but no such vote was held this time around. The House Agriculture Committee recently voted to repeal the inspection scheme, but it is not clear whether the language will make it into law.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Although Germany’s tuna imports have declined, Vietnam’s tuna exports to the market continue to show positive signs. Notably, export value recovered strongly in Q3/2026, and German import data also show Vietnamese products strengthening their position amid competition among suppliers.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Seafood exports are holding double-digit growth, but the opportunities are not spread evenly across product groups and markets. As businesses draw up their plans for 2027, Vietnam Seafood Summit 2026 (VSS2026) offers a chance to look ahead together: what to sell, where to sell it, and how to prepare for growth in the coming years.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) With less than two weeks to go, the Vietnam Seafood Summit 2026 (VSS 2026) will officially take place in Can Tho. Under the theme “Seafood Market Outlook 2027–2029 – Opportunities and Potential for Double-Digit Export Growth,” the Summit is organized by VASEP at a time when seafood businesses are facing rapid market shifts, changing buyer demand, trade policy changes and growing competitive pressure all at once.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) On October 28, 2026, the China Fisheries & Seafood Expo opened in Qingdao, China. The expo takes place over three days from October 28 to 30, 2026. This is a prestigious specialized seafood exhibition organized annually by Sea Fare Exposition Inc.
(vasep.com.vn) In the first nine months of 2026, Vietnam’s tilapia exports to the CPTPP bloc reached $7 million, marking a 51% year-on-year increase. The bloc rstands as the fourth-largest market for Vietnamese tilapia, trailing Brazil, the US, and Saudi Arabia.
(vasep.com.vn) VASEP has officially announced the program for Vietnam Seafood Summit 2026 (VSS 2026), featuring five in-depth sessions covering industry outlooks, trade barriers, buyer demand, the domestic market, and solutions to improve productivity and reduce costs across the seafood value chain.
(vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s shrimp exports reached US$3.7 billion in the first nine months of 2026, up 11% year on year. Although growth has been supported by China and several markets within the CPTPP, momentum is slowing as exports to the United States and the European Union decline. Tariff pressures, international competition, and raw material challenges are creating significant hurdles for exporters in the final months of the year.
(vasep.com.vn) Markets are changing faster, buyer requirements are becoming more demanding, and trade barriers are growing increasingly complex. In this environment, seafood businesses need more than an understanding of current market conditions. They need a longer-term perspective to answer a critical question: Where will growth opportunities come from in 2027–2029, and what should businesses do now to prepare? This is one of the key reasons why VASEP is organizing Vietnam Seafood Summit 2026.
(vasep.com.vn) In the first eight months of 2026, Vietnam’s pangasius exports to the Middle East reached US$113 million, up 7% year on year from the same period in 2025. Growth has become more pronounced in recent months. In August alone, exports to the region totaled US$20 million, an increase of 24%. This indicates that demand for Vietnamese pangasius in the Middle East is gradually recovering after a slowdown in March, although the pace of recovery varies across markets.
(vasep.com.vn) China’s shrimp imports continued to grow strongly in 2026, while Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the market also recorded notable growth. However, behind these positive figures lie two distinct trends: Chinese consumption is growing more slowly than imports, and lobster accounts for a substantial share of Vietnam’s shrimp exports to China, making its product mix significantly different from those of Ecuador and India. Exporters therefore need to assess each segment carefully to understand the opportunities and risks.
VASEP - HIỆP HỘI CHẾ BIẾN VÀ XUẤT KHẨU THỦY SẢN VIỆT NAM
Chịu trách nhiệm: Ông Nguyễn Hoài Nam - Phó Tổng thư ký Hiệp hội
Đơn vị vận hành trang tin điện tử: Trung tâm VASEP.PRO
Trưởng Ban Biên tập: Bà Phùng Thị Kim Thu
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