New EU paperwork could slow Alaska seafood shipments starting in September

Alaska processors shipping salmon, pollock, crab and other seafood to the European Union face new paperwork on every consignment starting Sept. 3, when the health certificates covering US-harvested product have to carry more information before NOAA will issue them. Paperwork already in hand gets a grace period: any certificate issued before Sept. 4 stays valid through Dec. 3.

Alaska has a lot riding on this. The state accounts for 60% of America's domestic seafood harvest, as Brock Hunter told a U.S. House hearing on seafood competitiveness last year, and much of that catch is exported. Fish is perishable, and NOAA is warning exporters to plan for possible delays after Sept. 3, especially on farmed product.

Most of the new burden is simply the volume of detail a certificate now has to include before it can be issued: operator and destination information, country codes, departure times, intended use, transit countries, and packaging and batch data. A stricter set of new rules, on animal health and antibiotic use, applies only to farmed finfish and shellfish, not to wild-caught fish, which covers most of Alaska's catch.

Some of the details are still being worked out. NOAA says it's coordinating with the FDA and USDA to clarify the requirements with the EU, and that it will update its guidance once it hears back, with the deadline already close.

The change is separate from the EU's catch-certificate rules, which govern proof of legal harvest. Alaska News earlier covered an extension NOAA secured letting US shipments keep using the current legal harvest certificate through November.