Chile maintains its leadership as the main supplier of salmon to the US, representing 46% of the market, while preparing for new traceability regulations that will come into effect in 2028.
With the aim of addressing the trends and new regulations of the American market, Intesal, the technical institute of SalmonChile, organized the webinar "Opportunities and Challenges of Salmon in the United States Market", which featured the participation of experts from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). During the meeting, three fundamental aspects were analyzed: the growing demand for salmon in the north american market, the regulations and recent regulatory trends, and the compliance requirements of the new Final Traceability Rule.
The United States is the main market for Chilean farmed salmon, accounting for 40% of our exports, which exceed US$6,500 million a year.
Alexander Jaramillo, Coordinator of Health and Safety at INTESAL, highlighted the importance of this type of initiatives. "This is the second in a series of talks that we have organized from INTESAL to highlight the relevance of salmon from the perspective of safety and international trade. In this case, the FDA emphasized with very interesting statistics the strategic importance of the US market for Chile, showing how they have Evolved the import trends and the potential that still exists. Moreover, we were able to learn about the regulations and initiatives that could influence exports, generating challenges to which we must adapt, but also great opportunities, characteristic of a product like salmon: a sustainable and healthy protein," highlighted.
"In the context of the concerns of the US administration to address the health issues of the American population, the recognition of salmon as a healthy food by the FDA represents a strategic opportunity for the industry: to offer a nutritious and high quality product that contributes to the well-being of the population," highlighted Gonzalo Ibáñez, Senior Food Specialist at the FDA, during his intervention.
The seminar also addressed the recent update by the FDA to classify foods as healthy, where from April 2025 salmon can be officially labeled as a healthy food. This is because 82% of its total fats are unsaturated, mainly omega 3, recognized for their multiple health benefits for the cardiovascular, brain and immune system.
A third relevant issue was the Final Traceability Rule, which represents the culmination of the nine rules that make up the US Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). This regulation, which will be enforceable from July 2028, requires companies that manufacture, process, pack or store foods included in the Traceability List (Food Traceability List - FTL), which includes all fish and seafood, keep additional records to track the history and location of food to quickly identify potential safety problems.
“With the Final Traceability Rule, which will be enforced since July 2028, the salmon industry has the challenge of implementing robust registration and tracking systems. This is not only a regulatory requirement, but also an opportunity to strengthen consumer confidence in the safety and safety of Chilean salmon in the US market,” concluded the FDA specialist.
