The U.S. Department of the Treasury has extended the deadline for companies importing Russia-origin seafood to get the products into the country.
U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on 22 December 2023 expanding a U.S. ban on Russian seafood to include imports of Russia-origin seafood products that were processed in third countries. The Biden administration later issued more guidance adding several harmonized tariff schedule (HTS) codes to its original ban, tightening loopholes that would have allowed certain Russia-origin seafood products to still enter the country.
Through both the original order and the updated guidance, companies were given until 12:01 a.m. EST on 21 February to have any banned items purchased before 22 December enter the country, but the Department of the Treasury has now moved that deadline to 12:01 a.m. EDT on 31 May 2024.
“This general license does not authorize any transactions otherwise prohibited by the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations,” the department notice, signed by Office of Foreign Assets Control Director Bradley Smith, said.
The additional time likely won’t alter the operations of relevant companies too much, Arctic Fisheries President Michael Kotok told SeafoodSource.
“It’s an awful lot about nothing because most of the heavy lifting has been done,” he said.
The relaxed deadline comes amid ongoing shipping delays worldwide. Attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Houthi militia in Yemen – who claim to be carrying out attacks because of Israel's response to Hamas following the latter group's offensive into Israel on 7 October 2023 – has caused major shipping companies to pause most transit through the region. As the attacks continued, more shipping operators started to avoid the region, and losses for countries in Asia continue to mount; India, for example, is estimated to have lost up to USD 30 billion (EUR 28 million) due to the delays.
Those delays in the Red Sea have coincided with a drought in the Panama Canal that has heavily limited the shipping lane's capacity. Supply chain expert William Duggan shared during the Global Seafood Market Conference in January that while the global supply chain has improved since the impacts felt during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the combined delays have increased costs and slowed down trade.
Delays in both regions mean that the extended deadline gives companies more time to get seafood ordered before 22 December 2023 into the U.S., but any seafood ordered after that date that fits into the now-extended ban will still be barred from entering the country.
Kotok said companies that had standing orders placed before the 22 December deadline likely rushed to get as much on the water as possible and then put a hard stop on anything that could have missed the deadline.
“Anyone who has been smart rushed as much production as they could,” he said. “Anything we thought could not get here in time, we put a hard stop on. Companies like us kept dozens of containers overseas.”
Most companies, therefore, will probably see little benefit from the extended deadline as taking a chance on product that might not get here in time was a gamble that many did not take, Kotok said.
“Luckily, all of our stuff came in on time,” he said. “It’s great to see flexibility from the government, or an admission of 'inability to reinforce' is how I read it, but ultimately, it’s not much of a benefit.”
The U.S. ban on seafood of Russian origin has stirred controversy in the U.S. seafood industry, with some companies openly calling for and celebrating the bans, while others in the processing industry are calling out the ban as inconsequential for Russia but harmful to the U.S.
The National Fisheries Institute – the largest seafood industry trade group in the U.S. – also called for tariffs on Russian seafood rather than an outright ban. NFI said the ban will only hurt the U.S. industry, while tariffs would have preserved jobs.
"The unintended consequences of this effort will very likely include layoffs right here at home. Let’s be clear: American seafood-processing jobs are now in jeopardy," NFI said in a statement.
In response, Bellevue, Washington, U.S.A.-based Trident Seafoods has terminated its membership with NFI, claiming NFI’s advocacy against the ban was wrong.
“Our two fundamental governance and strategic concerns stem from how NFI chose to handle those views and what NFI’s position on this issue implies for the future of U.S. seafood,” Trident said in a statement.
Photo courtesy of Russian Fishery Company
