Equivalence: Using a Trade Mechanism to Ensure Broader Consumer Choice and Open New Markets for Molluscan Shellfish
(WorldNews Netherlands)

Image By: Mark Abdoo, Associate Commissioner, Global Policy and Strategy, and Susan Mayne, Ph.D., Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition For the first time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is using a mechanism known as equivalence to begin reopening markets in raw and processed molluscan shellfish that have been closed to trade between the United States and the European Union (EU) since 2010. Mark Abdoo Understanding the food safety issues surrounding molluscan shellfish helps to explain the significance of the equivalence determination, and why this trade mechanism goes hand-in-hand with strong food safety protections. Molluscan bivalve shellfish - such as oysters,...