SEAFOOD RESEARCH SERIES | PAPER NO. 1
The Catfish Exception: Why Siluriformes Are Inspected by USDA FSIS
Most U.S. seafood is regulated by FDA. Catfish, basa, swai and every other fish of the order Siluriformes are inspected by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service instead. This paper explains how that happened and what it means for labels and imports.
Prepared for publication by Farm Animal Transparency | September 2026
Most seafood is regulated by FDA. Siluriformes fish are inspected by USDA, under the same law that covers beef and pork.
| At a glance |
| Congress made the change. The 2008 Farm Bill made “catfish, as defined by the Secretary” subject to the Federal Meat Inspection Act. The 2014 Farm Bill extended coverage to all fish of the order Siluriformes. |
| The rule is in force. FSIS published its final rule on December 2, 2015 (80 FR 75590). It took effect March 1, 2016, and the 18-month transition ended September 1, 2017. |
| Three countries can export. FSIS found the Siluriformes inspection systems of China, Thailand and Vietnam equivalent in November 2019. As of September 2026 they are the only countries with eligible Siluriformes establishments on FSIS’s list. |
| Only one family is “catfish.” Only fish of the family Ictaluridae may be labeled “catfish.” Basa and swai are inspected by FSIS but cannot use that word. |
Abstract
This paper explains why fish of the order Siluriformes are regulated by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) rather than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which oversees other fish and fishery products. It traces the 2008 and 2014 Farm Bill provisions, the 2015 final rule and its 2017 implementation, the equivalence process for foreign countries, the labeling rules that follow from FSIS jurisdiction, and the federal debate over whether the program duplicates FDA oversight. Its companion, Paper No. 2, describes how FSIS enforces the program inside plants and at the border.
1. How catfish moved to USDA
Section 10016(b) of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill, Pub. L. 110-246) amended the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) to make “catfish, as defined by the Secretary” an amenable species under FSIS jurisdiction. Section 12106 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-79) removed the Secretary’s authority to define the term and applied the FMIA to “all fish of the order Siluriformes.”
FSIS published the final rule, “Mandatory Inspection of Fish of the Order Siluriformes and Products Derived From Such Fish,” on December 2, 2015 (80 FR 75590). FSIS took jurisdiction over wild-caught and farm-raised Siluriformes on March 1, 2016. An 18-month transition followed and ended September 1, 2017. The new regulations are at 9 CFR parts 530–561.
| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 2008 Farm Bill, sec. 10016(b): “catfish, as defined by the Secretary” added to the FMIA |
| 2014 | 2014 Farm Bill, sec. 12106: coverage extended to all Siluriformes |
| May 2014 | FDA and FSIS sign a memorandum of understanding on the transfer |
| December 2, 2015 | Final rule published (80 FR 75590) |
| March 1, 2016 | Rule takes effect; transition period begins |
| May 25, 2016 | Senate passes S.J. Res. 28 to disapprove the rule; the resolution did not become law |
| August 2, 2017 | All imported Siluriformes shipments must be presented at an FSIS official import inspection establishment |
| September 1, 2017 | Transition ends; slaughter-plant coverage set at once per production shift |
| March 1, 2018 | Ten countries lose eligibility to export Siluriformes to the U.S. |
| November 2019 | FSIS announces final equivalence determinations for China, Thailand and Vietnam |
2. Why catfish are different from other seafood
FDA regulates fish and fishery products under its Seafood HACCP rule, 21 CFR part 123. Processors must identify “food safety hazards that are reasonably likely to occur” and keep a written HACCP plan when such hazards exist. In December 2016 testimony to Congress, FDA described that rule as requiring “both domestic and foreign processors of fish and fishery products to understand the food safety hazards associated with their process and product.” FDA told Congress it “continues to exercise regulatory oversight over all other fish and fishery products.”
Siluriformes follow a different path. The FSIS rule reaches every fish in the order, not only the channel and blue catfish farmed in the United States. It therefore covers imported fish of the family Pangasiidae sold as basa, swai, tra or sutchi. Plants that process these fish operate under FSIS inspection, and imported product must pass FSIS reinspection.
3. What the FSIS program requires
Establishments that process Siluriformes for human food must hold a grant of federal inspection. Before inspection begins they must have written Sanitation SOPs, written recall procedures and a HACCP plan (9 CFR 532.2, applying 9 CFR 304.3). Their hazard analysis must consider hazards “that can occur before, during, and after harvest” (9 CFR 537.2).
FSIS adjusted inspection coverage when the transition ended. A rule published September 1, 2017 (82 FR 41501) changed coverage at establishments that slaughter Siluriformes “from all hours of operation to once per production shift.” FSIS said the typical fish slaughter operation is “more like meat processing-only operations than like slaughter operations for other species.”
4. Imports and equivalence
A foreign country may export Siluriformes to the United States only if FSIS finds its inspection system equivalent to the U.S. system (9 CFR 557.2). The 2015 rule set two deadlines. By March 1, 2016, countries that wanted to keep exporting during the transition had to submit lists of establishments and documentation. By September 1, 2017, they had to submit full equivalence documentation. FSIS reviews the documents first and then audits in country.
FSIS announced that Bangladesh, Canada, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, The Gambia, Guyana, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria and Pakistan would no longer be eligible after March 1, 2018. In November 2019 FSIS announced final determinations that the Siluriformes inspection systems of China, Thailand and Vietnam are “equivalent to the system established by the United States” under the FMIA.
FSIS’s list of eligible foreign establishments (last updated June 9, 2025) names only those three countries for Siluriformes: China and Thailand for raw product, and Vietnam for raw and processed product. FSIS’s equivalence status chart of February 26, 2025 shows requests from Brazil, Guyana, Korea, Nigeria and Suriname at various stages of review. None had been granted as of that chart.
Since August 2, 2017, every shipment of imported Siluriformes must be presented at an FSIS official import inspection establishment for reinspection, “just as all imported meat and poultry products are reinspected.” Paper No. 2 describes that process.
5. Labels
- The word “catfish.” Only fish of the family Ictaluridae may be labeled “catfish” (9 CFR 541.7). Other Siluriformes must carry their common or usual name, such as basa, swai, tra or sutchi. A fish can be inside the FSIS program and still be barred from the word “catfish.”
- The inspection legend. The official USDA inspection legend must appear on all labels of inspected and passed fish and fish products, and must be applied by mechanical means (9 CFR 541.2). This is the same kind of mark found on meat and poultry.
- Farm-raised or wild-caught. The FSIS rule did not add its own requirement for these claims. Retail method-of-production labeling comes from USDA’s separate country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules, which require country of origin and “method of production information (wild and/or farm-raised)” for covered fish and shellfish (7 CFR 60.200). FSIS says voluntary farm-raised and wild-caught claims do not need sketch label approval.
6. Why the program remains contested
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) opposed the transfer. In GAO-12-411 (publicly released June 8, 2012), it recommended that “Congress should consider repealing provisions of the Farm Bill that assigned USDA responsibility for examining and inspecting catfish.” GAO later closed that recommendation as not implemented.
In December 7, 2016 testimony (GAO-17-289T), GAO repeated its view that the program “would likely not enhance the safety of catfish but would duplicate other federal seafood inspections.” GAO also reported that FSIS had cut the program’s estimated annual cost from about $14 million to $2.6 million and coordinated with FDA to reduce duplication. The testimony was given at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing titled “Waste and Duplication in the USDA Catfish Inspection Program.” FDA also testified at that hearing. Its testimony described Seafood HACCP and the 2014 memorandum of understanding and did not itself call the USDA program wasteful.
On May 25, 2016 the Senate passed S.J. Res. 28, a resolution to disapprove the final rule. The resolution did not become law, and the program remains in place.
7. What this means for FAT’s categories
Farm Animal Transparency (FAT) maps what a label discloses against the public record; it does not rate or recommend. For Siluriformes, FSIS jurisdiction means the package carries a USDA inspection legend with an establishment number, as meat and poultry do. That supports FAT’s Processor category. The species name (“catfish” versus basa or swai) supports the Species category. Country of origin and farm-raised or wild-caught information at retail come from COOL rules, not from FSIS.
Related FAT maps
The FAT catfish supply chain map shows FSIS-inspected Siluriformes plants alongside EPA ECHO permit compliance records.
Sources
- Federal Register – FSIS, Mandatory Inspection of Fish of the Order Siluriformes and Products Derived From Such Fish, final rule, 80 FR 75590 (Dec. 2, 2015)
- USDA FSIS – Inspection of Siluriformes (program page, accessed Sept. 2026)
- Federal Register – FSIS, Import Reinspection of Fish of the Order Siluriformes, 82 FR 30721 (July 3, 2017)
- Federal Register – FSIS, Changes to the Inspection Coverage in Official Establishments That Slaughter Fish of the Order Siluriformes, 82 FR 41501 (Sept. 1, 2017)
- USDA FSIS – Constituent Update: Final Determinations of Equivalence for the Siluriformes Fish Inspection Systems of China, Thailand and Vietnam (Nov. 1, 2019)
- USDA FSIS – Eligibility of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to Export Siluriformes Fish and Fish Products to the United States, final rule (effective Dec. 5, 2019)
- USDA FSIS – Eligible Foreign Establishments (updated June 9, 2025)
- USDA FSIS – Import library: China
- USDA FSIS – Equivalence Status Chart (Feb. 26, 2025)
- eCFR – 9 CFR Chapter III, Subchapter F, Mandatory Inspection of Fish of the Order Siluriformes, parts 530–561 (current Sept. 2026)
- eCFR – 9 CFR part 541, Marks, Marking and Labeling
- eCFR – 9 CFR 557.2, Eligibility of foreign countries
- eCFR – 21 CFR part 123, Fish and Fishery Products (FDA Seafood HACCP)
- eCFR – 7 CFR 60.200, Country of origin notification (COOL for fish and shellfish)
- U.S. FDA – Testimony of William R. Jones before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health (Dec. 7, 2016)
- U.S. GAO – Seafood Safety: Responsibility for Inspecting Catfish Should Not Be Assigned to USDA, GAO-12-411 (released June 8, 2012)
- U.S. GAO – Seafood Safety: Status of Issues Related to Catfish Inspection, GAO-17-289T (Dec. 7, 2016)
- Congress.gov – S.J. Res. 28, 114th Congress (passed Senate May 25, 2016)
Working paper. First prepared March 12, 2026; revised September 24, 2026 with data as of that date. Corrections welcome: dirkadams@farmanimaltransparency.com.