February 26, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on a proposed rule to establish a voluntary Commerce Trusted Trade Program for U.S. importers.

The Commerce Trusted Trade Program would “maintain the effectiveness” of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) by streamlining the reporting and record keeping requirements of U.S. importers who “commit to establishing internal traceability and auditing measures.” The goal of the program would be to not only streamline processing of import entries, but reduce costs for the government and industry.

SIMP became mandatory for importers on January 1, but NOAA has so far been lenient. The organization has allowed a temporary ease on entry rules to prevent disruption,  giving brokers a chance to clear shipments with incomplete or missing data. However, beginning April 7, all filings that are covered by SIMP regulations will have to comply with the electronic filing in order to receive a “may proceed” on an entry.

NOAA has scheduled public listening sessions for the proposed rule. A webinar will be held on February 28 at 3 p.m. Eastern, and a meeting will also take place at Seafood Expo North America in Boston on March 12.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.