Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Randy Weber (TX-14) co-sponsored H.R. 4547, the Laws Ensuring Safe Shrimp (LESS) Act, which would enhance the FDA’s capacity to test shrimp as it comes into the country—ensuring that what comes in is free of antibiotic residues, up to our health standards, and is not the product of illegal, unregulated, or unreported fishing by the People’s Republic of China. Additionally, it provides resources to the USDA to make purchases of domestic shrimp to get more healthy shrimp to schools, food banks, and disaster relief programs.
“We have watched for years as foreign countries have increasingly tried to run our shrimpers out of business,” said Rep. Weber. “Our shrimpers on the gulf coast are struggling to sell their catch and have severely impacted their livelihoods. But this bill will ensure that contaminated shrimp cannot be sold in other markets from reaching American consumers by rebuilding our domestic shrimp market. I am proud to join Reps. Garret Graves (R-LA) and Kathy Castro (D-FL) on this important bill as we fight for our shrimping community.”
Background:
The United States has robust health standards for food, ensuring consumers are safe from consuming contaminated food. However, many countries do not have the same health standards as the United States – especially when it comes to shrimp. Foreign countries continue to export exorbitant amounts of shrimp into U.S. markets and, while the FDA lacks resources to effectively inspect the massive volume of imports, they regularly find that over 10% of these shrimp do not meet our health standards. These imported shrimp pose a health risk to Americans and push out safe, domestically produced shrimp from the U.S. market. Americans are left with little choice but to eat shrimp that is regularly adulterated with illegal antibiotic residues.
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