Food safety: EU and US resume trade of bivalve molluscs
As from the end of February, trade of molluscan shellfish - such as mussels, clams, oysters and scallops – will resume between the EU and the US. Two EU Member States (Spain and the Netherlands) will be allowed to export molluscan shellfish to the US, whilst two American states (Massachusetts and Washington) can do the same to the EU. The Commission has adopted the legislation to that effect.
The Commission and the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) have been discussing the recognition of each other's production systems to allow bilateral trade of these products. Due to differences in regulatory standards, trade in live molluscan shellfish had not been possible between the EU and the US since 2011.
In 2015, both sides carried out on-the-spot audits and, following years of discussions, the Commission and the FDA recommended that the food safety systems for the production of raw bivalve molluscs in the two US states (Massachusetts and Washington) and the two EU Member States can be considered equivalent.
The EU therefore added the two US States to the list of third countries from which bivalve molluscs can be imported into the EU.
The FDA, on its part, published a Notice in the US Federal Register informing the public and stakeholders about the forthcoming opening of the American market to the import of EU bivalve molluscs from Spain and the Netherlands.
Another significant feature is that other EU Member States could also be allowed to export these products to the US following a simplified authorisation procedure agreed between EU and US.
This is the first time that FDA has issued an equivalence determination providing EU producers access to the US market.