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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Mexico’s Ministry of Health, Federal Commission for Protection from Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) covering the safety and quality of fresh and frozen aqua cultured molluscan shellfish exported from Mexico to the United States. This MOU formally recognizes that the Mexican Shellfish Sanitation Program meets the guidelines of the National Shellfish Sanitation Program of the United States.
The National Shellfish Sanitation Program of the United States helps ensure that molluscan shellfish imported into the United States are safe for human consumption and are harvested, processed, transported, and labeled appropriately.
“Our great nations share the same concerns about the safety of shellfish, and this agreement reflects our shared commitment to protecting this important part of the food supply,” said Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. “This agreement promises to benefit not only the public health interests of our nations, but our trading interests as well.”
“The agreement we are signing today marks the forging of a new understanding between our two nations concerning the safety and quality of farmed shellfish,” said FDA Commissioner, Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. “I am confident that it will serve as a model for close cooperation on important public health issues.”
The MOU provides for the basic obligations and responsibilities of both Mexico’s COFEPRIS and the FDA in helping to ensure that molluscan shellfish are safe for human consumption before entering the United States. COFEPRIS has legal, administrative, safety, quality, and sanitary controls over molluscan shellfish intended for import into the United States. FDA ensures that all aspects of the sanitation program provide consistent and reliable results for a safe food supply.
Under the MOU, shipments of shellfish may essentially be exported from Mexico to the United States as soon as COFEPRIS provides FDA with certification forms for the identified shippers in Mexico. Those shippers will be added to the Interstate Certified Shippers List to be approved for entry.
“The agreement also provides measures for taking enforcement action against persons or firms harvesting from unapproved growing areas,” said Dr. McClellan. “All those who worked so hard on both the Mexican Shellfish Sanitation Program and our own National Shellfish Sanitation Program should be commended.”
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