The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is updating its listing and certificate procedures for seafood products exported to the European Union (EU). The FDA is making these updates in response to recently published simplified export certificates from the EU that will be required for seafood exported to the EU starting on September 3, 2026. These simplified export certificates will be required in addition to the new EU catch certificates currently being implemented by the EU.
To satisfy new EU certification requirements prohibiting the use of certain antibiotics for growth promotion or for human medicine that apply to seafood products, the FDA will be collecting declarations of non-use from seafood facilities exporting to the EU. These declarations will be uploaded into the FDA Export Listing Module (ELM) application for each affected facility and will facilitate NOAA’s issuance of the required certificate for seafood products exported by that facility. The FDA will provide more information on these new declaration procedures and a declaration template on the FDA’s Food Export Library webpage.
Along with changes to the FDA’s ELM application process, NOAA will be updating their industry guidance on how to request the new simplified certificate for export of seafood products to the EU. More detailed information can be found on NOAA’s website.
Seafood products exported to the EU after September 3, 2026, will need to be accompanied by a certificate issued using the new FDA and NOAA procedures described above. For questions or further information on FDA’s ELM declaration and application process, please contact the FDA’s Export Certification Team at hfpexportcertification@fda.hhs.gov. For questions regarding NOAA export certificates, please contact NOAA Fisheries at nmfs.seafood.services@noaa.gov.