Catfish program could sink US-Pacific trade deal

A controversial catfish inspection program in the United States that has been lambasted by much of Washington as being a waste of money may now be putting a critical trade agreement with the Asia-Pacific region in jeopardy.

The New York Times is reporting that 10 nations in the region have complained to U.S. trade representatives that the program violates international law. The communication comes as the nations are working on negotiating a new Asia-Pacific trade deal with the United States.

According to the Times, the letter does not contain threats of any kind, but did indicate the dispute over the program is a roadblock to the negotiations.

The program, spelled out in a set of regulations that govern food production in the United States known as the Farm Bill, mandates that all catfish imports must be inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The mandate, first introduced to the bill in 2008, is a break from the traditional arrangement that requires all imported seafood be inspected by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Converting to the new mandate has been expensive; critics estimate it has already cost American taxpayers USD 20 million, prompting protests from financial watchdog groups, the Obama Administration, the Government Accountability Office and high-profile politicians including U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Despite the protests, the U.S. catfish industry and Sen. Thad Cochrane, R-Miss., managed to keep the new mandate alive, even weathering an effort last year to quash the USDA inspection program.

Now, Gavin Gibbons, spokesman for the National Fisheries Institute, said the program is putting even non-seafood industries at risk.

"This latest development shows how serious this issue is," Gibbons told SeafoodSource. "A special interest handout to a few southern states has grown into one of the most reviled programs on Capitol Hill. And now, the Times finds,  it’s jeopardizing a major American trade initiative. It’s not catfish producers who are going to be burned by this; it’s pork, beef, corn and soy exporters. As predicted, U.S. agriculture is the collateral damage from this boondoggle."