inspection, congressmen have introduced 

 no less than nine mandatory seafood 

 inspection bills in the last few years. 

 None have passed. 



Two major controversies are preventing 

 passage, Ward says. First, Congress can't 

 decide which federal agency should ad- 

 minister the inspection program. Some 

 feel it should be under the auspices of 

 the FDA; others vote for the U.S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



And then there's the question of who 

 pays for the inspection. 



Some believe industry should foot the 

 bill to ensure its own product safety; 

 others say the seafood industry should 

 be treated just like the red meat and 

 poultry industries. The inspection in 

 their plants is paid for by federally ap- 

 propriated funds. 



If Congress can resolve these two stick- 

 ing points, then seafood may soon be in- 

 spected from the boat to the consumer. 



And regardless of which agency regu- 

 lates the program or who pays for it, 

 seafood inspection will be based on the 

 HACCP inspection method. 



This method identifies the points, or 

 hazards, during processing when seafood 

 could become contaminated. These criti- 

 cal points would then be monitored to 

 ensure that processing and handling pro- 

 cedures are safe and under control. 



Each seafood processing plant, be it 

 large or small, would develop a HACCP 

 plan based on the types of fish and shell- 

 fish it handles, its equipment and its 

 operating procedure. Once the plan re- 

 ceived federal approval, then the plant 

 would have to keep detailed records 

 about its monitoring of the critical con- 

 trol points. 



Ward says compliance with a HACCP 

 plan should mean three things for 

 American consumers. It should ensure 

 public health and plant sanitation. It 

 should also stop fraudulent activities 

 such as purposely mislabeling a low- 

 priced species as a higher priced one. 



Although HACCP will have a big im- 

 pact in the United States, its effects will 

 also be felt abroad. American processors 

 told Congress if U.S. products had to 

 meet rigorous standards then imported 



products should receive similar scrutiny. 



Congress listened, and its proposed 

 legislation requires seafood entering the 

 United States to be bought only from 

 companies that use an inspection 

 method equivalent to HACCP. 



American processors are divided on 

 the issue of mandatory inspection. Many 

 favor the program as a way to restore con- 

 sumer confidence. Others feel it calls for 

 too much government intervention. 



Many just don't yet understand its con- 

 cepts and complexities, Ward says. 



But whether the seafood industry likes 

 it or not, mandatory seafood inspection 

 is the wave of the future. 



"It's no longer a matter of if, it's a 

 matter of when," Ward says. 



"If consumers think seafood inspec- 

 tion is going to significantly reduce 

 seafood-borne illnesses, then they may 

 be disappointed. Illnesses associated 

 with seafood are not a large problem 

 now. But what they will notice is an im- 

 provement in the quality of the fish and 

 shellfish they buy." 



Inspection Plan Gets Mixed Reviews 



By C.R. Edgerton 



If you want to know crab meat, ask 

 Jimmy Johnson. 



As plant manager for the Washington 

 Crab Company in Washington, N.C., he 

 oversees the handling of about 14,000 

 pounds of crab meat per day. 



Before shipping it to northern markets, 

 Johnson makes sure the meat is picked 

 and packaged in a safe, clean environ- 

 ment. Doing it any other way, he says, 

 would put his company out of business. 



Although he has misgivings about 

 governmental intervention in an industry 

 that has traditionally thrived on inde- 

 pendence, he says he's not afraid of what 

 federal inspections by the HACCP method 

 might mean to his business. 



He's already made sure his factory 

 meets certain guidelines for sanitation as 

 imposed by agencies such as the state's 

 Department of Environment, Health and 

 Natural Resources and the federal Food 

 and Drug Administration. 



"Our plant is inspected on a regular 

 basis," he says. "We're open to any type 

 of inspection that they may wish to do." 



Johnson says inspectors routinely sam- 

 ple his products (mostly crab meat with 



Photo by C.R. Edgerton 



