FDA Information Collection on Safe Import Procedures for Fish Products

(World Trade Interactive)

The Food and Drug Administration is requesting public comments by July 19 on the proposed extension of an information collection concerning procedures for the safe and sanitary processing and importing of fish and fishery products.

FDA regulations mandate the application of hazard analysis and critical control point principles to the processing of seafood and require that processors and importers of seafood collect and record information. The HACCP records compiled and maintained by a seafood processor primarily consist of the periodic observations recorded at selected monitoring points during processing and packaging operations. HACCP records are normally reviewed by appropriately trained employees at the end of a production lot or at the end of a day or week of production to verify that control limits have been maintained or that appropriate corrective actions were taken if the critical limits were not maintained.

A review of these records during the conduct of periodic plant inspections permits FDA to determine whether the products have been consistently processed in conformance with appropriate HACCP food safety controls. Article and link to source document here.