BATON ROUGE — Clay Higgins and Troy Carter, congressmen from opposite sides of the aisle, have introduced a new bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration authority to destroy imported products that pose a significant public health concern, specifically contaminated seafood, the pair said in a release Thursday.

The Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act would expand the FDA's authority to destroy hazardous items to food products. They are currently only responsible for destroying FDA-regulated medical devices and medication deemed a health risk. 

This legislation would grant the FDA additional authority to destroy food products that don't pass initial inspection, ensuring that contaminated seafood imports don't reach American consumers and potentially cause harm, a release from the bipartisan congressman said.

Higgins introduced a similar piece of legislation last year, the Imported Seafood Safety Standards Act, which holds foreign countries and exporters to the same standards that U.S. seafood producers and processors abide by.