May 7, 2020 Biloxi, Mississippi — The White House issued an Executive Order yesterday promoting America’s seafood competitiveness through streamlined aquaculture development and promotion of fair and reciprocal trade in seafood products.

The EO is the culmination of years of Administration work following the Department of Commerce 2018 seafood strategic plan.  The American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) is pleased to have worked closely with its colleagues at the U.S. Department of Commerce and on the Hill to support the development of the EO.

One of the key policy objectives of the EO is to “hold imported seafood to the same food safety requirements as domestically produced seafood.” An Interagency Seafood Task Force is created to prepare a comprehensive strategy to achieve this and other policy goals related to international seafood trade.

ASPA Executive Director Dr. David Veal lauds this critical objective, stating, “Our goal throughout this process has been to establish greater support for American shrimp processors and harvesters. The domestic shrimp industry deserves a fair trade economic environment and the American consumer deserves safe imported seafood held to the same safety standards as our domestic seafood.”

“ASPA thanks President Trump, Secretary Ross and all of the staff throughout the Administration and the Hill who worked to support the development of this Executive Order,” added ASPA President Andrew Blanchard.

“This is an important first step to achieving comprehensive seafood reform,” noted ASPA’s counsel Eddy Hayes. “We are incredibly lucky to have the support of our key Gulf Coast Hill allies and our friends at the Department of Commerce. We will work tirelessly to support these efforts to achieve faire and reciprocal trade in seafood products.”

More information on the efforts of ASPA and its members can be accessed via www.americanshrimp.com.

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About the American Shrimp Processors Association: The American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA), based in Biloxi, Mississippi, was formed in 1964 to represent and promote the interests of the domestic, U.S. wild-caught, warm water shrimp processing industry along the Gulf and South Atlantic with members from Texas to North Carolina. We are the collective voice of the industry, and our focus is to promote the interests of shrimp processors, other segments of the U.S. domestic wild-caught warm water shrimp industry and the general public. More information is available at http://50.28.36.107/~americanshrimp.