WH Seeks to Stop Imports of Russian Seafood, Diamonds Processed in Third Countries

The Biden administration is expanding its ban on importing certain Russian seafood and diamonds so that seafood caught in Russian waters or by Russia's fishing fleet but processed elsewhere, including in China, will be banned. The ban on industrial diamonds also has expanded so that those diamonds, if incorporated into goods in another country, also are banned.

The seafood restrictions apply to salmon, cod, pollock and crab, the Treasury Department said. The agency also issued General License 83, which allows imports of certain seafood where there is a written contract already in place, until 12:01 EST, Feb. 21. An executive order signed Dec. 22 said DHS will issue regulations "to collect, including through an authorized electronic data interchange system as appropriate, any documentation or information as may be necessary to enforce" these bans.

CBP had no comment about how it could tell which seafood was caught in Russian waters if the species is not covered by the Seafood Import Monitoring Program, such as pollock or salmon.

The White House's executive order, which revises a 2022 Russia-related order, will "make it more difficult for specific Russian goods to enter the United States after being modified in a third country," the White House said. "In the coming months, the United States and our partners intend to introduce import restrictions on certain diamonds mined, processed, or produced in Russia, building on an existing U.S. ban on the importation of Russian-origin diamonds. Today’s E.O. amends Executive Order 14068 to provide the authority to ban, following a determination from appropriate U.S. departments and agencies, the importation of certain products mined, extracted, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in Russia, even if these products are then transformed in a third country," a fact sheet said.

Fish caught in Alaska or Russia, but fileted and frozen in China, ends up as a Chinese product, which is why the extension of the 2022 executive order had been called for by members of Congress.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Ala., spoke on the floor Dec. 20 asking for passage of a bill that would have imposed the same sort of ban on Russian seafood processed in other countries as this executive order. After the order came out, a press release from his office said the new prohibition applies to certain seafood and seafood products "harvested in waters under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation or by Russian-flagged vessels outside of Russian waters, even if this seafood has later been reprocessed and substantially transformed in another country, most frequently in Communist China and sometimes using slave labor."

“I’ve relentlessly pressed this issue with senior members of the Biden administration, expressing my frustration -- and the frustration of Alaskans -- that our own government has allowed this damaging injustice to go on for far too long. The administration has finally listened and taken action on this ridiculously unfair notion that ‘reprocessed’ Russian fish, pumped with chemicals in China, could be classified as the product of another country and still sold on the U.S. market almost duty-free," he said.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., issued a statement praising the executive order, and noting she signed a bipartisan letter Dec. 14 from House members asking for this action. “Today’s executive action will help clamp down on Putin’s ability to evade our current Russian seafood ban by targeting products regardless of whether they are processed in third countries like China. This is one more step to deprive Putin of resources to fund his disastrous war," she said.