The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has declared that seafood consumed by Americans will no longer have any connections to Russia. The agency announced that all fish-related products imported into the United States must demonstrate that they did not originate from the Russian Federation. This directive also applies to seafood items processed in a third country before being imported into the United States.
According to a CBP news release, this decision is based on recommendations from the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and a federal government executive order. The administrative rule was established following the signing of Executive Order 14068 on March 11, 2022, which called for the prohibition of seafood imports into the U.S. with origins in the Russian Federation.
"CBP’s enforcement of this Executive Order ensures prohibited seafood products from the Russian Federation are prevented from entering American markets," said Troy A. Miller, CBP Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner. "Importers of seafood need to do their part by practicing due diligence over their supply chains to ensure their products do not contain components originating from the Russian Federation."
As per the media release, this order blocks any fish-related food caught within control of the Russian Federation or by Russian ships from being imported into America, even if it's processed in a different country. The federal government believes Russia has been using this method to circumvent the order.
A news release from the White House further clarifies that this enhancement of the executive order aims to target companies in third countries working with Russia to import fish-related goods into America by processing them. The White House warns these companies that collaborating with Russia on these goods supports "Russia’s military industrial base (and) are complicit in Russia’s brutal violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity."
