However, the USDA's proposed rules were delayed repeatedly by the OMB and the White House, as implementing a rule aimed at blocking pangasius imports could have sparked a major trade war with Vietnam, and hurt US meat and agricultural exports. The latest USDA proposed rules, released earlier this year, did not make a final determination as to which species would be covered by an equivalency requirement - that an exporting country have a USDA type continuous inspection system approved.
The political stalemate was broken in the Senate when opponents, led by Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and John McCain (R-AZ), were strongly supported by a recent GAO report highly critical of the USDA program.
NFI, which has vigorously opposed the USDA's authority to regulate catfish since 2008, issued a statement praising the vote.
"Common sense has prevailed in the Senate. [This] is a return to fiscal sanity at a time when controls on wasteful government spending are much needed. The voice vote passage of the amendment illustrates the Senate's strong desire to fix this problem.
"The bipartisan effort to repeal the program, with supporters from every corner of the country, took into account not only the agricultural trade implications raised by this program but the waste associated with a regulatory approach that sought to spend millions without actually improving food safety."
Basically, the GAO said it was a waste of government resources to move catfish inspection to the USDA and recommended Congress repeal the program.
According to a summary in Food Safety News, the GAO report questions whether the USDA inspection program would improve food safety, pointing out that federal regulators are using "outdated and limited" information in their risk assessment, upon which the inspection program would be based. The GAO notes that, in the risk assessment, FSIS identified just one outbreak of Salmonella, which occurred in 1991, but the incident "was not clearly linked to catfish." This was before the FDA's 1997 HACCP program came into force. According to GAO, no catfish-linked Salmonella outbreaks have happened since. The report also said "Other federal agencies questioned if FSIS (USDA) had adequately demonstrated a Salmonella problem in catfish.” For example, neither FDA nor NMFS have such concerns.
NMFS and other federal agencies have argued that it is more likely that chemical and drug residues in farm raised catfish are potential hazards, but the OMB told FSIS that Salmonella was the most practical hazard to evaluate, because of the strong data on Salmonella-linked deaths and illnesses in the United States, according to the report. There is not data on the health effects, if any, of the small amounts of chemical or drug residues that have been detected in some samples.
In 2002, imported catfish made up around 2 percent of the U.S. market and by 2010 imports accounted for 23 percent of the market, according to GAO. The GAO said that more fragmentation and overlap is not what the federal food safety system needs. On top of the illogical jurisdictional lines it would create, GAO says the move would cost taxpayers more. The program would provide continuous inspections of domestic processing processing and it would require the same for imported catfish, which only makes up 3 percent of imported seafood.
For US catfish plants, it would mean three federal agencies would have overlapping inspection authority in the same plant: FSIS, FDA, and NMFS. USDA estimated it would cost taxpayers $14 million each year. Between 2009 and 2011, the agency spent $15.4 million in the developing the program and is slated to spend $4.4 million more in FY 2012.
A similar repeal amendment has been introduced in the House with bi-partisan support, by Reps. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Jack Kingstom (R-GA).
If the House accepts a similar repeal, the five year uncertainty about catfish imports, and the access of US consumers to farm raised white fish, will no longer be under threat.
(vasep.com.vn) On November 11, 2026, in Can Tho, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) will organize the Vietnam Seafood Summit 2026 (VSS 2026) under the theme “Seafood Market Outlook 2027–2029: Opportunities and Headroom for Double-Digit Export Growth.”
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Business leader Do Ngoc Tai, General Director of Tai Kim Anh Seafood Processing Joint Stock Company, was honored by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) with the title “Outstanding Vietnamese Entrepreneur – Thanh Giong Cup 2026” at a ceremony celebrating Vietnam Entrepreneurs’ Day (October 13). The event took place on the evening of October 11, 2026, at the National Convention Center in Hanoi.
(vasep.com.vn) The global tilapia market is becoming increasingly segmented, not only among producing countries but also by product type and destination market. Supply is divided into groups with distinct competitive advantages: large volumes of whole fish and frozen fillets from Asia, high-value fresh fillets from Latin America, and substantial domestic consumption in several major producing countries.
(vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s tuna exports to the UK grew in the first eight months of 2026, despite signs of slowing import demand in the market. However, sharp fluctuations in orders, competition from major suppliers, and new traceability requirements are creating challenges for Vietnamese exporters.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam is stepping up efforts to combat illegal fishing, protect marine ecosystems, expand digital monitoring, and develop science-based management to ensure the sea can support communities and the economy for generations to come.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The EU remains a critical market for Vietnamese shrimp; however, purchasing demand and import patterns are undergoing notable changes. According to Vietnam Customs data, as of September 15, 2026, Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the EU reached nearly $374 million, down 5% year-over-year and accounting for 10.7% of the country’s total shrimp export value. Meanwhile, the EU’s stotal shrimp imports through July 2026 contracted by 7% in volume, exhibiting divergent trends across Southern Europe, Northwestern Europe and Eastern Europe. These dynamics necessitate that Vietnamese enterprises closely monitor individualized market demand, rather than approaching the EU as a monolithic consumer block.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the first eight months of 2026, Vietnam’s exports of surimi and fish cakes remained relatively stable year-over-year compared to 2025. Following a contraction in the initial months, export performance demonstrated improvement from June onward, peaking in August. However, the recovery has been uneven, characterized by divergent trends across major markets: robust growth was recorded in China, Japan, Malaysia, the United States, and Taiwan, whereas export volumes to South Korea, Indonesia, and select European markets contracted.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Pangasius remains one of Dong Thap’s key aquaculture species, with the province focusing on developing an integrated value chain covering seed production, commercial farming, deep processing and by-product utilization. The province is promoting high-tech, circular pangasius farming models featuring reduced water exchange and enhanced biosecurity, aiming to improve production efficiency and strengthen control over raw material quality.
(vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s seafood exports in September 2026 are estimated at US$1.135 billion, up 11.9% year-on-year, bringing total exports in the first nine months of the year to US$9.103 billion, up 11.4%. Behind this double-digit growth, however, increasingly divergent market trends are emerging: China–Hong Kong and ASEAN posted strong growth, while the U.S., EU and Japan all recorded declines in September.
(vasep.com.vn) In the first eight months of 2026, Brazil became the largest market for Vietnamese tilapia, with export value reaching US$44 million, up 22,142% year-on-year and accounting for 49% of Vietnam’s total tilapia exports. In August alone, exports to Brazil reached US$4 million. However, behind this remarkable growth is a market that is imposing increasingly stringent requirements on imported supplies.
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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