40 



Section-bv-Section of the Shellfish Safety Act of 1993 



Section 1 establishes this bill as the Shellfish Safety Act of 1993. 



Section 2 establishes that the purpose of this Act is to protect public health and 

 ensure public confidence in the wholesomeness of shellfish products consumed in 

 the United States. 



Section 3 directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary), in 

 consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, other federal agencies, and the 

 Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC), to establish the National 

 Shellfish Safety Program (NSSP) to carry out the purposes of the Act. 



The NSSP shall include guidelines for shellfish growers, harvesters, shippers, 

 vessels, water quality, tracing domestic and imported products, and monitoring 

 and control of biotoxins and naturally-occurring pathogens and bacterial, viral 

 and chemical contaminants. These guidelines shall be consistent with the current 

 ISSC guidelines and subject to periodic review by the Secretary, in consultation 

 with the ISSC. 



Section 4 requires each shellfish producing state to submit to the Secretary a state 

 shellfish safety program. State programs shall ensure states (1) manage consistent 

 with the NSSP, (2) classify and monitor harvest and growing waters, (3) establish 

 procedures for the closure and reopening of growing waters, (4) certify shippers 

 that comply with the NSSP, and (5) provide adequate monitoring and 

 enforcement of NSSP standards and procedures. 



The states will also be required to submit to the Secretary current lists of (1) 

 shippers certified by the state as complying with the program and (2) growing 

 and harvest waters classified by the state as open for harvest. 



Section 5 requires each foreign country exporting to the U.S. to enter into a 

 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Secretary. MoU's shall require 

 foreign countries to (1) manage their program under standards and procedures at 

 least equivalent to those of the NSSP, (2) certify to the Secretary those shippers 

 located in the country that comply with the program, (3) maintain and make 

 available a list of harvest and growing areas classified as open to harvest. 



Section 6 requires the Secretary to publish monthly lists of certified shippers and 

 open growing and harvest waters. 



Section 7 allows the Secretary, after consultation with the state or foreign 

 country, to remove a shipper or harvest area from the list required under section 6. 



Section 8 deems shellfish adulterated if it is (1) grown or harvested in a foreign 

 country without a current, active MoU, (2) grown or harvested in a state that 

 does not have an approved program, (3) harvested from waters that have not 

 been classified as open by a state or foreign country or that has been delisted, (4) 

 shipped by a shipper not certified by a state or foreign country, or who has been 

 delisted, or (5) otherwise deemed unsuitable for harvesting by the Secretary. 



Section 9 authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with 

 states for developing and implementing state shellfish safety programs. 



Section 10 requires the Secretary of Commerce, in cooperation with the EPA and 

 states, to establish and maintain a list of "harvest restricted" waters, determine the 

 causes of those restriction, and evaluate the potential for removing the 

 restrictions. This section also authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to enter into 

 cooperative agreements with states to develop and implement restoration 

 programs for harvest restricted areas. 



Section 1 1 establishes definitions for "Conference," "Program," "Secretary," 

 "shellfish," "State" and "shellfish shipper." 



