Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2715, the Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act, which I introduced with my Louisiana colleague Representative Clay Higgins.

This bill will protect American consumers and create a level playing field for American businesses by authorizing the Food and Drug Administration to order the destruction of imported products found to pose a significant public health concern.

Under current law, foreign exporters can ship contaminated or counterfeit products to the U.S. knowing they can withdraw the shipment if FDA flags it. They can then try to enter through a different port where the shipment may not be caught, a practice known as port shopping. This loophole endangers our health and undermines our food and drug safety systems.

This bill authorizes the Food and Drug Administration to require an importer to destroy an FDA-regulated product that was refused entry into the U.S. because it poses a significant public health concern with the cost of the destruction at the importer's expense. This bill also prohibits the unauthorized movement of any article designated for destruction by the FDA.

Some imported foods, especially seafood, have been found to be contaminated with carcinogenic drugs, pesticides, and other harmful impurities.

Beyond food, there has been a rise in imports of dangerous vape devices and e-liquids containing banned substances and excessive nicotine, as well as counterfeit drugs like GLP-1s.

This threat is real and documented. Exporters, especially Chinese exporters, have been caught resubmitting rejected shipments at different ports. This bill closes that loophole and creates a deterrent for bad actors.

Congressman Higgins and I have worked hand in hand with our domestic fishing industry on this legislation, including the Southern Shrimp Alliance. American fishermen perform backbreaking work and operate under strict U.S. food safety, labor, and environmental rules that raise their costs significantly. Meanwhile, some foreign producers cut corners and still get multiple chances to dump noncompliant and often dangerous products into the American marketplace.

Seafood imports continue to pour into the United States, increasing in volume each year, undercutting domestic fishermen. Last year, the U.S. imported 6.4 billion pounds of foreign seafood, a 10 percent increase from 2019.

As imports have increased, American commercial seafood landings have declined. In 2024, the U.S. commercial landings totaled 7.7 billion pounds, the first time landings have been below 8 billion pounds since 1988.

Louisiana's commercial fishing industry has particularly been hit hard by this flood of foreign imports. Since 2021, Louisiana shrimpers have seen the value of their catch drop by more than 50 percent, falling from $131 million in 2021 to just $61 million in 2024. As you can see, this is, in fact, a real threat.

Passing this bill will deter bad actors from flooding the market with unsafe products and provide American fishermen with a fair playing field, allowing them to sustainably harvest millions of additional pounds of shrimp and other seafood each year.

This is a real issue, and I am proud to be working in a bipartisan way to address an issue that will impact not just Louisiana but our entire country.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of this critical legislation.

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