House Bill 335 Passes Senate Unanimously, Moves to Governor for Signature

Biloxi, Miss. May 29, 2019 – In a move to protect Louisiana consumers from “the health risks associated chemicals and residues in imported seafood,” the Louisiana Senate unanimously passed House Bill 335 (34-0) requiring restaurants to disclose whether they serve imported shrimp or crawfish. The bill, authored by Rep. Jerry “Truck” Gisclair (D) Larose, previously passed the Louisiana House unanimously. It now heads to Governor Jon Bel Edwards for signature.

The bill, which was strongly supported by the American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) on behalf of the entire wild-caught domestic shrimp industry, is a major victory for consumer transparency. The U.S. Government does not regulate seafood disclosures at the restaurant level, and Louisiana is taking the lead with this law requiring seafood origin information.

Any foodservice establishment serving imported crawfish or shrimp must now display on their menu, or with a paper clip addition to the menu, that the crawfish or shrimp are foreign. Those who do not use a menu will have to display a prominent sign with the same information near the entrance. The Louisiana Department of Health will enforce the provisions of the bill through its foodservice health inspection programs.

“The U.S. has very limited capacity to inspect the billions of pounds of imported shrimp entering our borders each year. In 2015, only .1 % of imported shrimp were inspected for the presence of illegal veterinary drugs used in most foreign aquaculture,” said Dr. David Veal, executive director of the American Shrimp Processors Association.  “At the same time, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing public health problem impacted by persistent exposure to these drugs.”

”ASPA sincerely thanks Representative Gisclair and Senator Chabert for their efforts and congratulates our friends and colleagues at the Louisiana Shrimp Association and  Louisiana Shrimp Task Force for their tireless work supporting this legislation,” Veal added.

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://www.americanshrimp.com