US cracks down on fish from China

WASHINGTON -- Federal authorities, under fire for responding slowly to tainted Chinese imports, yesterday said they will halt shipments of five fish species sent from China because they are laced with dangerous chemicals.

Farm-raised basa, catfish , dace , eel, and shrimp from China can no longer enter the United States until importers can prove the shipments are free of chemicals, including antibiotics and agents that can trigger tumor growth in lab animals after long-term exposure.

The Food and Drug Administration, however, stopped short of pulling the tainted seafood from stores and restaurants because, they said, the products pose a low public health risk.

The agency has struggled to contend with an expanding list of tainted food products imported from China. This week, China said it had cracked down on production plants that had amassed scores of food safety violations. But yesterday , US concerns spiked anew with reports that about 1 million tubes of tainted toothpaste imported from China were sent to US prisons, hospitals, and other institutions.

The FDA's action "reaffirms that 'Made in China' is rapidly becoming a warning label for American consumers," said US Senator Dick Durbin , Democrat of Illinois .

Meanwhile, Senator Tom Harkin , the chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry , wondered why FDA action lagged months behind southern states that already banned some Chinese seafood.

"With the largest pet food recall in American history originating in China -- and with proof from states that producers in China are using these banned drugs in aquaculture -- why is FDA just now banning these products from China?" asked Harkin, Democrat of Iowa .

China is the third-largest exporter of seafood to the United States. In 2006 , it exported $1.9 billion in fish , groundfish filets, and shrimp to American buyers. As Chinese seafood exports have grown, so have concerns. Since 2001 , Chinese seafood has regularly tested positive for banned chemicals.

Dr. David Acheson , the FDA's new food safety czar, called the contamination "deliberate," since Chinese farmers lace polluted water with antibiotics to help fish combat fungal and bacterial infections. But anecdotal reports also suggest that contamination may result from suspending chicken pens over seafood ponds, a practice that recycles antibiotic- and salmonella-laced droppings as fertilizer.

A sweeping FDA reform bill, cosponsored by US Senator Edward M. Kennedy , Democrat of Massachusetts , would push the agency to bolster aquaculture and seafood inspection and explore steps to trace tainted products to production plants.

Officials in southern states where domestic catfish and shrimp sales slumped in response to a rising tide of imports, for months have prodded the FDA to take a stronger stance on imports their tests showed were unsafe.

US catfish farmers face "excruciating" federal and state regulation, while Chinese producers face minimal scrutiny, Roger Barlow , the president of a trade group representing 1,000 catfish farmers in such states as Alabama , Arkansas, and Mississippi , said in a recent interview.

"There are so many small producers" in China, Barlow said. "There is no traceability back. If you have 500 farms that are actually producing a container of fish, how would you trace it back to that farm?"

Diedtra Henderson can be reached at dhenderson@globe.com.