Irish seafood companies have been reminded that only cooked and processed bivalve molluscs can be exported to North America.
The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) issued an information notice to exporters this week in relation to technical requirements for Irish companies trading with the US in “an evolving third country regulatory environment”.
It says that live bivalve molluscs – including oysters, mussels and razor clams – and frozen unprocessed bivalve molluscs are not currently approved for export from Ireland to the US.
“If these products are exported to the US, they will be rejected at the border control point and will either need to be destroyed … or reimported into Ireland at significant cost to the exporter,” it warns.
Exports of cooked or processed bivalve molluscs do not require an export health certificate, it says.
However, seafood exporters must be registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and pre-notify export consignments using the FDA online system, it says
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