Seafood Regulatory Oversight Download (270k pdf) Ensuring the
safety and quality of seafood products in the U.S. is a joint
effort of Federal and State regulatory agencies. These agencies
work cooperatively to provide consistent standards and
regulations for seafood products and the various industry
sectors that fish, farm, harvest and deliver them to consumers.
Federal Regulatory Oversight The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) has the primary Federal responsibility for
the safety of seafood products in the U.S. In 1997 the FDA
adopted a regulation (21 CFR Part 123) that required all seafood
processors to utilize the preventive system of food safety
controls known as HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control
Point). Seafood was the first food commodity in the U.S. to
utilize this science based system of preventive food safety
controls. Other commodities that now require a similar system of
mandatory HACCP controls include meat and poultry and juice
products. The FDA’s seafood HACCP regulation requires tha