Notice2026-03311
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Procedures for the Safe Processing and Importing of Fish and Fishery Products
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Published
February 19, 2026
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentFood and Drug Administration
Abstract
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Federal Agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on the information collection associated with safe and sanitary processing and importing of fish and fishery products.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 33 (Thursday, February 19, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 33 (Thursday, February 19, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8010-8012]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-03311]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Food and Drug Administration
[Docket No. FDA-2026-N-0498]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Procedures for the Safe Processing and Importing of
Fish and Fishery Products
AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing
an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain
information by the Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA), Federal Agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal
Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including
each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and
to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This
notice solicits comments on the information collection associated with
safe and sanitary processing and importing of fish and fishery
products.
DATES: Either electronic or written comments on the collection of
information must be submitted by April 20, 2026.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments as follows. Please note that late,
untimely filed comments will not be considered. The <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> electronic filing system will accept comments until
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time at the end of April 20, 2026. Comments received
by mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/paper submissions) will be
considered timely if they are received on or before that date.
Electronic Submissions
Submit electronic comments in the following way:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted
electronically, including attachments, to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>
will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be
made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment
does not include any confidential information that you or a third party
may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone
else's Social Security number, or confidential business information,
such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your
name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in
the body of your comments, that information will be posted on <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
<bullet> If you want to submit a comment with confidential
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public,
submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner
detailed (see ``Written/Paper Submissions'' and ``Instructions'').
Written/Paper Submissions
Submit written/paper submissions as follows:
<bullet> Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier (for written/paper
submissions): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
<bullet> For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets
Management Staff, FDA will post your comment, as well as any
attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified,
as confidential, if submitted as detailed in ``Instructions.''
Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No.
FDA-2026-N-0498 for ``Agency Information Collection Activities;
Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Procedures for the Safe
Processing and Importing of Fish and Fishery Products.'' Received
comments, those filed in a timely manner (see ADDRESSES), will be
placed in the docket and, except for those submitted as ``Confidential
Submissions,'' publicly viewable at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> or at
the Dockets Management Staff between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through
Friday, 240-402-7500.
<bullet> Confidential Submissions--To submit a comment with
confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly
available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You
should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information
you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states
``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.'' The Agency will
review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in
its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the
claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be
available for public viewing and posted on <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Submit both copies to the Dockets Management Staff. If you do not wish
your name and contact information to be made publicly available, you
can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of
your comments and you must identify this information as
``confidential.'' Any information marked as ``confidential'' will not
be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other
applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of
comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or
access the information at: <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf">https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf</a>.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and insert the docket number, found in brackets in
the heading of this document, into the ``Search'' box and follow the
prompts and/or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane,
Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852, 240-402-7500.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amber Sanford, Office of Operations,
Food and Drug Administration, Three White Flint North, 10A-12M, 11601
Landsdown St., North Bethesda, MD 20852, 301-796-8867,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b7e7e5f6f5c5d6d9d4dff7d1d3d699dfdfc499d0d8c1"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="207072616252414e4348604644410e4848530e474f56">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521), Federal
Agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor.
``Collection of information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR
1320.3(c) and includes Agency requests or requirements that members of
the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a
third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A))
requires Federal Agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal
Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including
each proposed extension of an existing collection of information,
before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with
this requirement, FDA is publishing notice of the proposed collection
of information set forth in this document.
With respect to the following collection of information, FDA
invites comments on these topics: (1) whether the proposed collection
of information is necessary for the proper performance of FDA's
functions, including whether the information will have practical
[[Page 8011]]
utility; (2) the accuracy of FDA's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents,
including through the use of automated collection techniques, when
appropriate, and other forms of information technology.
Procedures for the Safe Processing and Importing of Fish and Fishery--
21 CFR Part 123
OMB Control Number 0910-0354--Extension
This information collection supports regulations in part 123 (21
CFR part 123), which mandate the application of hazard analysis and
critical control point (HACCP) principles to the processing of seafood.
HACCP is a preventive system of hazard control designed to help ensure
the safety of foods. The regulations were issued under FDA's statutory
authority to regulate food safety, including section 402(a)(1) and (4)
of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 342(a)(1) and
(4)). Certain provisions in part 123 require that processors and
importers of seafood collect and record information.
The HACCP records compiled and maintained by a seafood processor
primarily consist of the periodic observations recorded at selected
monitoring points during processing and packaging operations, as called
for in a processor's HACCP plan (e.g., the values for processing times,
temperatures, acidity, etc., as observed at critical control points).
The primary purpose of HACCP records is to permit a processor to verify
that products have been produced within carefully established
processing parameters (critical limits) that ensure that hazards have
been avoided.
HACCP records are normally reviewed by appropriately trained
employees at the end of a production lot or at the end of a day or week
of production to verify that control limits have been maintained, or
that appropriate corrective actions were taken if the critical limits
were not maintained. Such verification activities are essential to
ensure that the HACCP system is working as planned. A review of these
records during the conduct of periodic plant inspections also permits
FDA to determine whether the products have been consistently processed
in conformance with appropriate HACCP food safety controls.
Section 123.12 requires that importers of seafood products take
affirmative steps and maintain records that verify that the fish and
fishery products they offer for import into the United States were
processed in accordance with the HACCP and sanitation provisions set
forth in part 123. These records are to be made available for review by
FDA as provided in Sec. 123.12(c).
The time and costs of these recordkeeping activities will vary
considerably among processors and importers of fish and fishery
products, depending on the type and number of products involved, and on
the nature of the equipment or instruments required to monitor critical
control points. The burden estimate in table 1 includes only those
collections of information under the seafood HACCP regulations that are
not already required under other statutes and regulations. The estimate
also does not include collections of information that are a usual and
customary part of businesses' normal activities. For example, the
tagging and labeling of molluscan shellfish (21 CFR 1240.60) is a
customary and usual practice among seafood processors. Consequently,
the estimates in table 1 account only for information collection and
recording requirements attributable to part 123.
Description of Respondents: Respondents to this collection of
information include processors and importers of seafood.
We estimate the burden of this collection of information as
follows:
Table 1--Estimated Annual Recordkeeping Burden \1\
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Number of records
21 CFR Section; \2\ activity Number of per recordkeeper Total annual Average burden per recordkeeping \4\ Total hours
recordkeepers \3\ records
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123.6(a), (b), and (c); Prepare hazard 50 1 50 16..................................... 800
analysis and HACCP plan.
123.6(c)(5); Undertake and prepare 15,000 4 60,000 0.30 (18 minutes)...................... 18,000
records of corrective actions.
123.8(a)(1) and (c); Reassess hazard 15,000 1 15,000 4...................................... 60,000
analysis and HACCP plan.
123.12(a)(2)(ii); Verify compliance of 4,100 80 328,000 0.20 (12 minutes)...................... 65,600
imports and prepare records of
verification activities.
123.6(c)(7); Document monitoring of 15,000 280 4,200,000 0.30 (18 minutes)...................... 1,260,000
critical control points.
123.7(d); Undertake and prepare records 6,000 4 24,000 0.10 (6 minutes)....................... 2,400
of corrective actions due to a deviation
from a critical limit.
123.8(d); Maintain records of the 15,000 47 705,000 0.10 (6 minutes)....................... 70,500
calibration of process-monitoring
instruments and the performing of any
periodic end-product and in-process
testing.
123.11(c); Maintain sanitation control 15,000 280 4,200,000 0.10 (6 minutes)....................... 420,000
records.
123.12(c); Maintain records that verify 4,100 80 328,000 0.10 (6 minutes)....................... 32,800
that the fish and fishery products
offered for import into the United
States were processed in accordance with
the HACCP and sanitation provisions set
forth in part 123.
[[Page 8012]]
123.12(a)(2); Prepare new written 41 1 41 4...................................... 164
verification procedures to verify
compliance of imports.
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Total................................ ................. ................. .............. ....................................... 1,930,264
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\1\ There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of information.
\2\ These estimates include the information collection requirements in the following sections:
Sec. 123.16--Smoked Fish--process controls (see Sec. 123.6(b));
Sec. 123.28(a)--Source Controls--molluscan shellfish (see Sec. 123.6(b));
Sec. 123.28(c) and (d)--Records--molluscan shellfish (see Sec. 123.6(c)(7).
\3\ Based on an estimated 280 working days per year.
\4\ Estimated average time per 8-hour workday unless one-time response.
Based on a review of the information collection since its last OMB
approval, we have made no adjustments to our burden estimate.
Grace R. Graham,
Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Legislation, and International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2026-03311 Filed 2-18-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4164-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on February 19, 2026.
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