Democrats block Kennedy’s bill to protect American consumers from illegal shrimp imports using IRS funding

Democrats recently blocked Sen. John Kennedy’s (R-La.) legislation to bolster Louisiana’s shrimp, red snapper and seafood industry and protect American consumers from illegal imports.

Kennedy’s bill would increase funding to the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) by $36 million using unobligated Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funds. The funding would allow the SIMP to conduct audits on seafood under its purview to prevent foreign seafood imports that misrepresent themselves from entering U.S. markets.

“Big seafood exporters, such as India and Ecuador, are flooding America’s markets with illegal shrimp and selling it for cheaper than quality Gulf shrimp caught right here at home. In order to serve American consumers and protect jobs, the U.S. must conduct better inspections on imports—and that is what my bill would help do,” said Kennedy.

Shrimp consumption in the U.S is on the rise, more than doubling from 2.3 pounds per person in 1990 to 5.9 pounds per person in 2021. However, domestic shrimp profits have decreased in recent years, particularly for shrimp sourced in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic regions. Illegal imports are to blame.

Background:

• According to the FDA, approximately 94% of seafood sold in the U.S. is imported, and only a small amount is inspected.

• SIMP establishes reporting requirements for imports of certain seafood species, including shrimp, to combat illegal and unregulated seafood from entering U.S. commerce.

• The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and Customs and Border Protection conduct random seafood audits under SIMP. However, only 1% of seafood imports under its purview are audited.

• More than one-third of the shrimp imports that SIMP audits do not comply with U.S. regulations.

Kennedy’s full remarks are available here.

Full text of the bill is available here.