Policy Concentrates TRADE
India protests US rejection of shrimp India is raising concerns about the rejection of its shrimp shipments by the US Food and Drug Administration for alleged use of banned antibiotics such as chloramphenicol or nitrofurans to prevent disease outbreaks. The analytical tests to detect antibiotic residue are too stringent, Indian shrimp producers say. The US FDA refused to allow 26 types of shrimp products from India into the US in January for banned antibiotics. It had refused 27 shipments in 2017 and 2018. The US is the largest market for Indian shrimp exporters and accounts for about one-third of seafood exports from India. “The Indian shrimp farming industry is
notorious for its failure to curtail the use of banned antibiotics in its aquaculture,” the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA), a US-based group of shrimp fishermen and processors, says in a statement. However, “the highly sensitive test protocols cannot differentiate if the residue detected is from the usage of antibiotics or background signal emanating from the extremely low level of antibiotics or compounds existing in the environment that mimic those antibiotics,” says D. Ramraj, president of the All India Shrimp Hatcheries Association. “Some of the metabolites in shrimp and crustacean shells are known to mimic antibiotics and there-
fore could give false results. This is well documented.” The use of antibiotics in shrimp farming is banned in India, which requires that all shrimp feed be certified as free of antibiotics. India’s Coastal Aquaculture Authority registers antibiotic-free aquaculture feed and feed supplements. “All shrimp hatchery operators and shrimp farmers are advised to use only these antibiotics-free inputs during shrimp farming,” says Madhusudana Rao, principal scientist at India’s Central Institute of Fisheries Technology.—K. V. VENKATASUBRAMANIAN,
special to C&EN
CHEMICAL REGULATION
US EPA finalizes methylene chloride ban Agency bans use in consumer paint and coating removers, requests input on commercial uses US consumers will not be able to purchase paint and coating removers that contain methylene chloride by the end of the year, under a rule finalized by the US Environmental Protection Agency on March 15. Environmental and health advocacy groups welcome the ban but say it does not go far enough because it fails to protect workers who use such products. The EPA proposed banning methylene chloride in paint strippers for both consumer and commercial uses during the final days of the Obama administration. Now, the Trump EPA has limited the final rule to just consumer uses, citing unreasonable risks to human health and consumer fatalities. The EPA plans to gather public input on developing a training, certification, and limited-access program for workers who use methylene chloride–based paint and coating removers. Such a program could take years to get up and running. Environmental groups are alarmed that
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the EPA abandoned its earlier proposal to ban methylene chloride in commercial products. That rule would have protected “those most at risk—the many workers, including owners and employees of small businesses, who are exposed to these deadly products on the job,” Lindsay McCormick, chemicals and health project manager at Environmental Defense Fund, says in a statement. “Most reported deaths from these products are of workers, and so we will continue to fight for their protection.” Democrats in the US Congress are also calling on the EPA to extend the ban to include commercial uses. At a March 13 subcommittee hearing of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, lawmakers cited methylene chloride as a prime example of the EPA’s failure to protect workers from hazardous chemicals. In response to the EPA’s final rule, Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, urged the agency to “change
The EPA will determine whether to restrict commercial uses of methylene chloride–based paint strippers after it receives public input about a potential training and certification program. course now and extend this ban to commercial usage.” Retailers have 180 days after the rule goes into effect to remove methylene chloride–based paint strippers from their store shelves and e-commerce sites. Many US retailers have already voluntarily stopped selling these products.—BRITT ERICKSON
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Analytical tests flag other compounds as banned antibiotics, producers say
