FSVP vs Seafood HACCP: What's the Difference?

These two terms get used almost interchangeably by exporters, which causes confusion — they apply to different parties and cover different things.

Seafood HACCP

Seafood HACCP is a food-safety plan that the processing facility — typically you, the Vietnamese exporter — is responsible for developing and following. It identifies the specific safety hazards in your process (biological, chemical, physical) and the controls in place to manage them. It's specific to seafood and separate from general FDA food rules.

FSVP

The Foreign Supplier Verification Program is an obligation on the U.S. importer of record, not on the foreign exporter directly. It requires the U.S. importer to verify that their foreign suppliers are producing food in a manner that meets U.S. safety standards. In practice, this means your U.S. importer will ask you for documentation — including evidence your HACCP plan is in place and being followed — to satisfy their own FSVP obligation.

Why the distinction matters

If you don't have a solid seafood HACCP program, your importer can't satisfy their FSVP requirement using your product — which means they legally can't import it, regardless of how good the product itself is. Getting your HACCP plan in order isn't just a compliance checkbox; it's what allows a U.S. importer to work with you at all.