A judge in a federal court in California has ordered the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to publish all outstanding proposed regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) by November 30 this year.

A new system for labelling fish products, agreed by the European Union, will give consumers information about the way their fish is caught and sets a precedent for clearer labelling of other animal products.

(SeafoodSource) A new system of front-of-pack food labeling is to be rolled out in the U.K. during the next 18 months. It will combine color-coding and nutritional information to show how much fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar, and how many calories, are in each product.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Science and Research (CSR) Strategic Plan. The CSR Strategic Plan provides a blueprint for FDA research that supports the agency’s effort to address food, dietary supplement, and cosmetic safety concerns and to implement new Food Safety Modernization Act mandated regulatory responsibilities.

Seafood Watch, a Monterey Bay Aquarium program that promotes consumer awareness in the seafood industry, announced today that it will now recommend seafood carrying the mark of other well-known sustainability programs.

(vasep.com.vn) Vietnam was listed in the top three exporters who has the most fish and fishery seafood consigments returned the most by EU, the U.S., Japan and Australia. It was also considered as the country having the highest rate of returned shipments in term of value for exports to the EU, the U.S. and Japan.

(vasep.com.vn) National Food Safety and Quality Service of Argentina (SENASA) has approved the list of 203 seafood processing plants in Vietnam which are licensed to export to Argentina.

German sales of frozen meat ready-meals have declined significantly after the recent horsemeat scandal, with consumers dodging to fish.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has called for stricter inspection of fisheries imports after several cases of illegal aquatic products from China were uncovered.

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), Global Aquaculture Association (GAA) and GlobalGap agreed Tuesday to develop a plan to harmonize their various sustainable seafood certification standards to reduce duplication between the programs and make it easier for producers and buyers to adopt certification programs.

The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) has announced an expansion of its Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification program with the completion of new multi-species standards for all production types of finfish and crustacean farms.

"Rigorous checks' after issues were raised around provenance of tuna. UK authorities have seized tuna shipments at ports over fears illegally caught fish may enter the supply chain, reported The Grocer.

The Philippine Fisheries and Aquatic bureau announced a ban on imports of live shrimp to prevent the spread of EMS to the Philippines, the government announced yesteday.

According to the inspection office in Zhanjiang, Japanese authorities have increased the frequency of inspections for drug residues in farmed shrimp by 30%.

The Obama administration is requesting cuts at most agencies in its 2014 budget, released on Wednesday, but seeking a significant increase in funding at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help the agency implement the monumental Food Safety Modernization Act.