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Consumer advocates are raising concerns about whether federal restrictions meant to stop the import of tainted Chinese seafood are strong enough.

The Food and Drug Administration issued an import alert on June 28 requiring that five types of farm-raised seafood from China be tested for banned antibiotics before being allowed into the U.S. market. The restrictions require that the testing be conducted by a third party and that importers provide documentation that their seafood is safe. Certification, however, can come from a lab in any country, including China.

"We had a problem with the fact that FDA is going to allow China to be one of the certifiers, since they have done such a poor job of certifying" the safety of seafood in the past, said Tony Corbo, lobbyist for Food & Water Watch. "We're not sure they can handle this."

The alert was issued after a seven-month FDA study completed in May found restricted antibiotics in Chinese catfish, basa, shrimp, dace and eel. The study found that 25 percent of the farm-raised seafood tested contained contaminated antimicrobial agents. China is the world's largest producer of fish and the third-largest exporter of fish to the United States.

At about the same time, safety problems were being found in a variety of products from China, including tainted pet food ingredients and toothpaste manufactured with toxic chemicals. Click here to continue a Full Article

By: Renae Merle and Xiyun Yang - Washington Post