The Government Accountability Office on Friday confirmed what everyone who buys and sells seafood in the United States for a living has known for decades - economic integrity isn't a U.S. Food and Drug Administration priority and takes a backseat to food safety.
The GAO, the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress, said the agency commits "minimal" resources toward enforcing the rules and punishing the cheaters. From fiscal 2003 to 2008, only 1 percent of the seafood imports the FDA rejected at the port of entry were due to short weighting, species substitution and other forms of economic fraud, according to the GAO.
The agency recommended that the FDA make better use of its limited resources by "increasing interagency collaboration" with the National Marine Fisheries Service and Customs and Border Protection.
That's heartening. But let's be realistic - the FDA can't do much more than it does now without additional resources. And the chances of obtaining additional resources are slim. Do you think U.S. taxpayers will be on board with boosting FDA's budget when they're already on the hook for hundreds of billions, if not trillions, in bank bailout and economic stimulus money? Forget it.
So who's responsibility is it to weed out the cheaters? It's yours.
Talk of cracking down on economic fraud was prevalent at last week's International Boston Seafood Show. I sat in on a Better Seafood Bureau (BSB) meeting and participated in two conferences addressing economic fraud. I was encouraged by what I heard from industry leaders such as Sysco's Butch Vidrine and Roger Berkowitz of Legal Sea Foods. When it comes to cheating, they flat out said, "Don't tolerate it."
The industry leaders are setting the tone. Now it's up to you to follow suit. If you receive a "cheater pack" of, say, shrimp that's not 100 percent net weight, send it back to the vendor and report it to the BSB. Ensure the seafood products you purchase are accurately labeled for weights and counts, species and country of origin. Doing so will protect your integrity and bring the industry one step closer to the ultimate goal - increasing consumer confidence in seafood.
Best regards,
Steven Hedlund
Editor
SeafoodSource
