Methodology

The methodology for data collection is different and varies depending on the structure of the e-notification portal. For this reason, it has been decided to aggregate the causes of import notifications as follows:

• Animal disease
It includes diseases that affect animal health.
• Chemical
The causes related to a chemical hazard are presented in sub-categories. They include additives, contaminants, pesticides, and veterinary drugs.
• Histamine
It includes only histamine
• Microbiological
It includes virus and bacteria that affect food safety or contribute to spoilage.
• Parasites
It includes all the parasites that can be present in fisheries and aquaculture products.
• Toxins
It includes marine biotoxins.
• Other causes
This category is more generic. It includes both food safety-related and non-food safety-related issues.

Australia

For Australia, the portal used is the Imported Food Inspection Scheme of the Australian Governments. The data are inserted on their website in CSV file monthly, covering all products. Data on fisheries and aquaculture products is filtered manually by FAO. The reports provide a variety of information such as:

• Date of fail
• Product description
• Country of origin
• Producer name
• Reason for fail
• Result/s
• Units
• Reference

The FAO dataset contains the classification of the notification, the date of the case, the importing and exporting country, the subject, and the product category.

European Union and United Kingdom

For these countries, the portal used is the RASFF Portal, a tool to ensure the flow of information to enabling swift reaction when risks to public health are detected in the food chain. The RASFF Portal is a database containing information on food and feed that may have been subject to alerts, border rejections, information for attention and information for follow-up. The FISHSTATJ dataset only contains alerts and border rejections. Every year, the NFIMF team collects data from the previous year. For the RASFF portal, as all food and feed products are present, we only select the following aquatic food commodities: bivalve molluscs, cephalopods, crustaceans and fish and fish products. The RASFF portal provides a variety of information such as:

• The classification of the notifications.
• The date of the case.
• The importing country.
• The subject.
• The product category.
• The exporting country.
• The risk decision.
• The action taken.
• The distribution status.
• The analytical result.
• The sampling dates.

The FAO dataset contains the classification of the notification, the date of the case, the importing and exporting country, the subject, and the product category.

Japan

For Japan, the methodology used to compile the data from the website of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare is different. The data are inserted on their website in an excel file monthly, covering all products. Data on fisheries and aquaculture products are filtered manually by FAO. The excel files provide a variety of information such as:

• The item.
• The exporting country.
• The name of manufacturers.
• The shipper.
• The article.
• The contents of violation.
• The quarantine station.
• The name of importers.
• The disposal of the cargo.
• The remark.
• The publication day.

The FAO dataset contains the classification of the notification, the date of the case, the importing and exporting country, the subject, and the product category.

People’s Republic of China

For China, the methodology used is to receive translated data obtained from the website of the China’s Customs website. Data on fisheries and aquaculture products is categorized manually by FAO. The FAO dataset contains the classification of the notification, the date of the case, the importing and exporting country, the subject, and the product category.

United States of America

For the United States of America, the portal used is the Import Refusal Report (IRR) of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). By selecting "product" and inserting the month and the year, the system gives a list of all the products subjected to rejections. It is possible to get all rejections by selecting "Fishery/Seafood Prod",. If you click on the dropdown to select a record, you can obtain the selected rejection, which contains more detailed information such as:

• Manufacturer FEI.
• Manufacturer Name.
• Manufacturer Address line.
• Address line 2.
• Manufacturer Province/State.
• Manufacturer Country/Area. Product Code.
• FDA Product Description.
• Refusal Date.
• FDA District.
• ENTRY/DOC/LINE/SFX.
• FDA Sample Analysis.
• FDA Record of Private Lab Sample Analysis.
• Violation Code.
• Section.
• Charge Statement.

The FAO dataset contains: the classification of the notification, the date of the case, the importing and exporting country, the subject, and the product category.