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On December 9, 2016, NMFS issued a final rule that established a risk-based traceability program to track seafood from harvest to entry into U.S. commerce. The final rule included, for designated priority fish species, import permitting and reporting requirements to provide for traceability of seafood products offered for entry into the U.S. supply chain, and to ensure that these products were lawfully acquired and are properly represented. Shrimp and abalone products were included in the final rule to implement the Seafood Import Monitoring Program, but compliance with Seafood Import Monitoring Program requirements for those species was stayed indefinitely due to the disparity between Federal reporting programs for domestic aquaculture of shrimp and abalone products relative to the requirements that would apply to imports under Seafood Import Monitoring Program. In Section 539 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, Congress mandated lifting the stay on inclusion of shrimp and abalone in Seafood Import Monitoring Program and authorized the Secretary of Commerce to require comparable reporting and recordkeeping requirements for domestic aquaculture of shrimp and abalone. This rulemaking would establish permitting, reporting and recordkeeping requirements for domestic producers of shrimp and abalone from the point of production to entry into commerce.

Statement of Need: Section 539 of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018 (2018 Appropriations Act) directed the Secretary of Commerce to "establish a traceability program for United States inland, coastal, and marine aquaculture of shrimp and abalone" and by December 31, 2018 to "promulgate such regulations as are necessary and appropriate to establish and implement the program." The proposed Traceability Information Program for Seafood (TIPS) would establish registration, reporting and recordkeeping requirements for domestic, commercial aquaculture producers of shrimp and abalone species and products containing those species from the point of production to entry into U.S. commerce. TIPS would close the domestic reporting and recordkeeping gap and enable NOAA to add imported shrimp and abalone to the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP), which was mandated under the 2018 Appropriations Act and finalized under 50 CFR 300.324 in a final rule (0648-BH89; 83 FR 17762) published April 24, 2018.

Summary of the Legal Basis: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018.

Alternatives: Coextensive with the scope of SIMP, the Traceability Information Program for Seafood would establish a domestic traceability program for aquaculture shrimp and abalone traces fish and fish products from production to entry into U.S. commerce. NMFS will solicit public input on alternatives to the registration, reporting and recordkeeping requirements for U.S. shrimp and abalone aquaculture producers in the proposed rule.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits: The costs of the Traceability Information Program for Seafood, as proposed, would include a small registration fee and labor associated with reporting harvest information to NMFS as well as compliance with any requests for audit or inspection. The Traceability Information Program for Seafood would enable NMFS to determine the origin of the domestic aquaculture shrimp and abalone products and confirm that they were lawfully produced. The Traceability Information Program for Seafood will close the domestic reporting and recordkeeping gap and enable NMFS to add imported shrimp and abalone to the Seafood Import Monitoring Program, which will prevent illegally harvested or misrepresented seafood products from entering U.S. commerce, thereby leveling the playing field for law abiding shrimp and abalone producers in the U.S. and around the world.

Risks: Failure to implement the Traceability Information Program for Seafood would violate Section 539 of the 2018 Appropriations Act and likely provoke challenges to the Seafood Import Monitoring Program in international trade fora.