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whether the USDA inspection program would improve food safety, pointing out that federal regulators are using "outdated and limited" information in their risk assessment, upon which the inspection program would be based.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.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietfish 2026, the Vietnam International Seafood Exhibition, will officially take place from 19–21 August 2026 in Ho Chi Minh City. As Vietnam’s largest annual seafood trade event, organized by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietfish 2026 will once again bring together leading seafood companies, industry experts, and international partners from across the global seafood value chain.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s seafood exports reached USD 1.1 billion in July 2026, up 4.8% compared to the same period in 2025. Cumulative exports in the first seven months of the year totaled nearly USD 6.86 billion, an increase of 11.5% year-on-year. Exceeding the USD 1 billion mark in July further reinforces the prospect that Vietnam’s seafood exports could surpass USD 12 billion in 2026. However, the July figures also send a clear signal that the most favorable growth period may have passed: overall export growth slowed to just 4.8%, pangasius exports fell 6.1%, tuna exports were virtually flat, while exports to the EU, South Korea, and the Middle East all recorded double-digit declines.
(vasep.com.vn) As part of the Vietnam Fisheries International Exhibition (Vietfish 2026), the seminar "Global Seafood Market and the Future Workforce: Trends, Opportunities, and Sustainable Development Pathways for Vietnam's Seafood Industry" will take place from 2:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. on August 19, 2026, at Convention Room B, Level 2, SECC, Ho Chi Minh City. This is the first of five specialized seminars at Vietfish 2026, focusing on key issues that are shaping the long-term development of Vietnam's seafood industry.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnamese seafood exports recorded impressive growth, generating nearly 6 billion USD in revenue during the first six months of the year, up 13% compared with the same period last year.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Fishermen in Ha Tinh are gradually overcoming difficulties to maintain the efficiency of seafood exploitation. In the first six months of 2026, the entire province achieved a production of more than 23,000 tons of seafood, worth more than 1,200 billion VND.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) June 2026 brought encouraging signs for Vietnam's tuna exports, with export value rising 20% year-on-year to nearly USD 72 million. However, this increase has yet to offset the prolonged slowdown seen in key markets such as the European Union (EU), where import demand remains weak. The outlook for the second half of the year is expected to become more challenging as freight rates continue to climb.
(vasep.com.vn) As part of the Vietnam Fisheries International Exhibition (Vietfish 2026), the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in collaboration with the Agency for Domestic Market Management and Development under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, will organize the Domestic Seafood Supply–Demand Matching Program on the morning of August 20, 2026, at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC), Ho Chi Minh City. The program aims to foster direct business connections between Vietnamese seafood producers and processors and domestic distributors, retailers, and foodservice channels.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The Cooking Show will be one of the most engaging experiential highlights of Vietfish 2026. Taking place over three days, from August 19–21, 2026, at Hall B1, SECC, Ho Chi Minh City, the event will offer visitors a vibrant culinary space where Vietnamese seafood is showcased through its flavors, stories, and real-life culinary applications.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam's pangasius exports reached USD 205 million in June 2026, up 5% compared with the same month in 2025. Cumulative export value for the first six months of the year totaled USD 1.1 billion, an increase of 12% year-on-year. Growth was primarily driven by strong demand from China and CPTPP markets, while exports to the United States and Brazil continued to decline.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the first six months of 2026, Ha Tinh province continued to implement comprehensive solutions to combat IUU fishing; strictly manage the fishing fleet, control fishing vessels entering and leaving ports, operate vessel tracking devices, trace the origin of seafood, and severely punish violations.
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
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