NOAA Fisheries announces the release of the Health Certificate for Imports of Live, Frozen, Chilled or Processed Bivalve Molluscs, Echinoderms, Tunicates, and Marine Gastropods Intended for Human Consumption from the United States of America. This new certificate provides certification and market access for live molluscan shellfish harvested from EU-approved growing areas in Washington or Massachusetts. The new certificate will begin implementation on February 27, 2022.
The new certificate is designed to issue health certification for export consignments of live molluscan shellfish harvested from approved European Commission (EC) growing areas. The EC’s equivalence determination recognizes the equivalence of the U.S. shellfish safety control measures and initially accepts exports of raw and processed bivalve molluscan shellfish harvested from approved growing areas in the states of Massachusetts and Washington. The EC assessed compliance of these two National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP) participants, which ensures the safety of molluscan shellfish by providing for the classification and control of shellfish growing waters and for the inspection and certification of shellfish processors. In consultation with the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC), NSSP participants from Massachusetts and Washington were selected as examples of the US system. U.S. firms in other states will soon have an opportunity to be considered for eligibility to export shellfish to the EU, using a streamlined process established by FDA and the European Commission.
As with all EU exports, the U.S. harvester, producer, processor, storage facility, and any associated shipper will be required to have a current valid EU approval number. While molluscan shellfish shipments to the EU were not permitted previously, going forward the NOAA Seafood Inspection Program will be able to provide certification for live product that meets all eligibility requirements.
The NOAA SIP is the competent authority of the United States for official export certification of fishery products. As defined by Codex Alimentarius Standard, official certificates are documents issued by a competent authority of an exporting country, in accordance with the requirements of an importing country, in this case, the EU. Official export certificates are further defined as issued to a specific destination country within the EU.
SIP offers export certification services to facilitate the export of seafood products that meet the EU’s unique requirements and any additional buyer-specific criteria. Once the exported fishery product has entered commerce in the destination country within the EU, the importing country becomes the competent authority for the consignment and is responsible for any further certification needs.
The NOAA Handbook will be updated on February 24, 2022, to include all relevant policy and procedure updates.
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