NMFS Again Extends Deadline for MMPA Comparability to Remain Import-Eligible

The National Marine Fisheries Service is postponing by an additional year an upcoming requirement that foreign countries and fisheries be found comparable in marine mammal protections for their fish and fish products to be eligible for import into the U.S., the agency said in a notice released Oct. 20. The extension until Dec. 31, 2023, comes as the NMFS considers “applications for comparability findings from 132 nations and for 2504 foreign fisheries,” a process that has been slowed by time delays in communications with foreign counterparts and translation of submitted responses.

The 2016 final rule setting the new requirement under the Marine Mammal Protection Act had originally required compliance by the beginning of 2022 (see 1608110008), before the NMFS in a 2020 interim rule extended the compliance date until the beginning of 2023. The agency published an initial “List of Foreign Fisheries” and their comparability status in 2018 (see 1803160035).