A Chinese seafood exporter has been the subject of a red alert by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Shipments of dried anchovy and squid by the Hong Kong Tianbao Food Co. Ltd. have been flagged by the FDA’s seafood import alert system (formally termed “Detention Without Physical Examination of Fish and Fishery Products for Importer and Foreign Processor Combinations”) on the grounds of what the U.S. agency terms “HACCP [Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points] violations.”
Tianbao, which trades seafood from mainland China, was also hit with a similar alert last year for shipments of canned dace fish. Under the FDA’s alert system, importers “who import fish or fishery products and fail to meet these requirements may have their entries subject to detention, without physical examination, until such time as verification of compliance by the importer is provided.”
The U.S.-based importer of Tianbao products listed on the FDA’s alert is Pacific Key Inc. That’s the same firm listed as importer on another Chinese firm, Zhejiang Xianghai Food Co., which had its shipments of hairtail/ribbonfish detained in 2017. It’s likewise the listed importer of carp supplier Hubei Golden Carp Food Co. Ltd., which was also subject to an FDA alert in 2017.
