January 31, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The USDA published a federal register notice today that it will not go forward with a Grade A catfish inspection program. Instead it urges users to continue to use the USDC Grade A catfish inspection program run by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) and the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill) directed the Secretary of Agriculture to establish within USDA a voluntary, fee-based grading program for catfish. Since passage of the 2008 and 2014 Farm Bills, and particularly since the publication of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) final rule, “Mandatory Inspection of Fish of the Order Siluriformes and Products Derived From Such Fish,” which defined catfish (80 FR 75589), AMS has engaged the U.S. catfish industry and other stakeholders to seek input on requirements for voluntary U.S. standards for grades of catfish.
During the 60-day comment period, four responses were submitted–two from catfish importers, one from an industry institution, and one from a U.S. catfish producer/processor. One importer stated support for a USDA grading program if it included all Siluriformes species (currently, imported products of many varieties of Siluriformes are not eligible to be graded under the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Standard). Two additional responses did not support USDA’s development of voluntary U.S. standards or a grading program. One pointed out the duplicity of creating these under AMS when they already exist under NFMS, noting the unnecessary use of resources to develop a program “and market to a consuming [public] that is not demanding a new U.S. Grade Standard;” the other recommended the use of the NMFS standards and grading program, as these are already familiar to the industry and their customers.
Based on the responses received from the Notice as well as additional feedback from stakeholders through other avenues, including two industry workshops coordinated by AMS and academia and an industry-wide conference call held by AMS in May 2016, AMS has concluded that there is not sufficient interest in USDA-AMS standards for catfish or an AMS-administered grading program at this time.
It is important to note that a standard for catfish, and associated voluntary grading services, are currently available to the industry through NMFS. NMFS maintains the “United States Standards for Grades of North American Freshwater Catfish and Products Made Therefrom” and provides grading and certification services on a fee-for-service basis. Graded catfish and catfish products may bear official marks, including `U.S. Grade A,’ `Processed Under Federal Inspection,’ and `Lot Inspection.’ Additional services provided by NMFS include system and process audits, product inspection, and export certification.
In light of the response from industry stakeholders indicating there is no current need for USDA-AMS standards nor a subsequent AMS-administered grading program for catfish, AMS will discontinue the initiative to establish either at this time. AMS stands ready to assist agricultural industries in establishing voluntary standards and grading programs for commodities for which it has authority to do so; the catfish industry retains this option should the need arise.
This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.