On February 12th, the OTC submitted a petition to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requesting an investigation into the Global Seafood Alliance’s (GSA) third-party aquaculture certification scheme, Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP).  BAP is a certification scheme for farmed seafood products and is one of the world’s largest and most prominent aquaculture certification bodies. 

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The OTC asked the FTC to examine whether BAP’s widely used logos, seals, and general marketing practices mislead American consumers by certifying farmed seafood – Chinese tilapia in particular – as safe, responsibly produced, and sustainable, despite documented violations of U.S. food safety laws.  

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Tilapia is one of the most popular seafood in the United States.  Americans consume over 200 million pounds of this fish each year, 83% of which is supplied by Chinese producers who raise tilapia in aquaculture farms.  Chinese tilapia is widely sold across the United States, including in major grocery stores and meal kit services.

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BAP claims to certify seafood across the entire production chain, including feed mills, hatcheries, farms, and processing plants, based on its “BAP Standards and Guidelines” that emphasize food safety, environmental and social responsibility, and animal health and welfare.  To assure consumers that BAP-certified products follow BAP’s Standards and Guidelines, BAP claims that all its certified facilities undergo a thorough certification process and are subject to rigid audits to ensure ongoing compliance. 

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However, the enforcement data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and public information from BAP’s own website demonstrate that its assurance is misleading.  The OTC’s petition shows that several BAP-certified Chinese tilapia producers have repeatedly violated U.S. food safety standards.  At least 10 of the top 25 Chinese tilapia exporters in 2023 were BAP-certified, despite having a history of FDA import refusals for unapproved veterinary drug residues and other food safety issues.  Some of these companies are currently listed on FDA Import Alert lists for violations including the presence of unapproved drug residues, such as malachite green and nitrofurans, which are both recognized as carcinogenic and genotoxic.  Others have been the subject of FDA warning letters and formal regulatory action, such as “Red List” status, for violating seafood safety standards.  Despite these findings, these products continue to hold BAP certification and are sold to American consumers as safe and sustainable.

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The FTC has made clear that third-party certifications must be truthful, substantiated, and not misleading.  The OTC’s petition alleges that the BAP label violated the Federal Trade Commission Act by falsely assuring consumers that certified seafood is safe and ethically produced, even when it comes from exporters with known violations.

The OTC emphasized that such deceptive marketing practices harm consumer trust and unfairly disadvantage American own seafood producers.  Specifically, this misrepresentation directly impacts the Oregon trawl fishing and seafood industry who operate under the strict and costly federal and state regulations that aim to ensure their products are safe and sustainable.  Domestic seafood producers, including those in Oregon, are being forced to compete against poorly regulated, low quality, cheap foreign seafood which undercuts domestic seafood, threatening the viability of America’s sustainable fisheries. 

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Read the OTC’s full FTC Petition here.

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