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House approves transfer of imported seafood testing to Agriculture; small processors win exemptions
Summary
Legislation moving seafood import testing and enforcement to the Department of Agriculture and Forestry passed the House after amendments exempting small local processors from additional reporting requirements that apply to importers.
The Louisiana House passed legislation on May 5 to move authority for imported-seafood sampling, testing and enforcement from the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism to the Department of Agriculture and Forestry. Representative Kerner, sponsor of House Bill 6 52, said the change "provides accountability and and transparency, throughout the, the seafood market."
Kerner offered amendment sets that allowed the commissioner to appoint hearing officers and adjusted hearing timelines; the House adopted those without objection. During debate Representative Domingue offered a targeted amendment to exempt small, local "mom-and-pop" processors that do not receive imported seafood from additional filing requirements — language the sponsor and other members said was meant to protect struggling domestic processors that already report ticketing and sales data.
"My amendment is simply giving an exemption to processors that wouldn't have imported data to report in the first place," Domingue said on the floor, noting some small processors might be forced to share proprietary data and would face added regulatory burdens. Representative Kerner and others said importers remain required to have licenses and to report, and argued the bill’s principal focus was on imported product transparency and safety.
An earlier floor debate included objections that the amendment might be unenforceable; supporters replied processors already file certain tickets and the amendment narrows new obligations to importers and larger processors. The House adopted Domingue’s amendment and later approved the bill by a vote of 95 yeas, 0 nays.
Sponsor Kerner said the bill is intended to strengthen consumer protections and give the Department of Agriculture authority over testing and enforcement consistent with other food-safety roles. The measure also clarifies hearing and enforcement procedures and provides penalties for violations.
The bill will now go to the Senate for further consideration; supporters said the departmental transfer centralizes seafood sampling authority and will streamline enforcement against bad-faith actors who repackage imports without proper labeling.
