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 programs, training, and technical support (for example, 

 administration of the National Shellfish Sanitation Program, 

 training State retail inspectors and shellfish plant sanitation 

 inspectors, and training States on how to monitor shellfish 

 beds for pollution); and (7) public education (for example, 

 advising certain at-risk populations that they should not 

 consume raw or only partially cooked molluscan shellfish) . The 

 Office of Seafood within FDA's Center for Food Safety and 

 Applied Nutrition manages and establishes policy for this 

 program. 



I would like to elaborate on several of these program elements. 



B. Domestic Inspection 



FDA conducts mandatory surveillance inspections of seafood 

 processors, packers, repackers, and warehouses. There are 

 about 5,600 such entities in our seafood establishment 

 inventory, 2,846 of which are processors. We regard about 

 1,000 of these processors to be "high risk" processors because 

 of the products handled and processing methods used. For 

 example cooked, ready-to-eat products require no cooking by the 

 consumer, and thus must be pathogen free. FDA targets these 

 firms for unannounced inspection at least once-a-year, and more 

 often if problems are found. All other processors are targeted 



