U.S. Government Legislation and Policies Concerning Seafood Substitution and other Forms of Seafood Fraud" – In February of 2009 the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), at the request of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, published a 53 page report on seafood fraud, which includes the substitution of a different species of seafood for the species listed on a label/menu.  The GAO found seafood fraud to be a major problem in the seafood industry and also reported that the three government agencies that share the responsibility for detecting and preventing seafood fraud, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) do not fully cooperate with each other.  As a result these agencies have not taken advantage of opportunities to share information or coordinate similar and sometimes overlapping activities to use limited resources more efficiently.  Both the Senate Finance Committee and Senate Commerce Committee are drafting legislation to enhance the inspection (with regard to species identity) of seafood products entering the country, potentially provide funding to develop novel tests and test kits, create policy for third party testing of said products and provide for guidelines for the policing and punishment of this form of fraud.  During this session we will provide an overview of these legislative initiatives and outline what new mandates, policies, regulations and penalties have been put into place.  Invited presenters will include members or senior staff from one or both of the Senate committees, a representative from CBP and/or NMFS and Will Gergits of Therion International, LLC who will present a summary of the scope and prevalence of the seafood substitution problem.