US – State certifies shrimp harvesting nations

On May 26, 2016, the Department of State published in the Federal Register a document [Public Notice: 9584] announcing that on May 3, 2016, it certified that 14 shrimp-harvesting nations (Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Gabon, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, and Suriname) have a regulatory program comparable to that of the United States governing the incidental taking of the relevant species of sea turtles in the course of commercial shrimp harvesting and that the particular fishing environments of 26 shrimp-harvesting nations and one economy do not pose a threat of the incidental taking of covered sea turtles in the course of such harvesting. Sixteen nations have shrimping grounds only in cold waters where the risk of taking sea turtles is negligible: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay. Ten nations and one economy only harvest shrimp using small boats with crews of less than five that use manual rather than mechanical means to retrieve nets or catch shrimp using other methods that do not threaten sea turtles. Use of such small scale technology does not adversely affect sea turtles. The 10 nations and one economy are: The Bahamas, Belize, China, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Oman, Peru, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela.

A completed DS–2031 Shrimp Exporter’s/Importer’s Declaration must accompany all shipments of shrimp or shrimp product into the United States. Only shrimp or products from shrimp harvested in the 40 certified nations and one economy listed above may be accompanied by a DS–2031 with Box 7(B) checked. All DS–2031 forms accompanying shrimp imports from uncertified nations must be originals with Box 7(A)(1), 7(A)(2), or 7(A)(4) checked, consistent with the form’s instructions with regard to the method of production of the product and based on any relevant prior determinations by the Department of State, and signed by a responsible government official of the harvesting nation’s competent domestic fisheries authority.