Augusta, April 16

President Barack Obama’s administration is working to head off Sweden’s push to ban imports of American lobsters to Europe.

In an April 12 letter to Maine’s congressional delegation, US State Department says administration is in close contact with officials in the EU to ensure that US lobster exports are not ‘unjustifiably restricted’.

Julia Frifield, assistant secretary for legislative affairs, said administration is consulting with experts to evaluate scientific basis for Sweden’s assessment that 32 American lobsters found in Swedish waters pose a risk to the smaller European variety. Sweden has asked the EU to bar imports of live American lobsters into the 28-nation bloc, saying the crustaceans could spread disease and overwhelm the European variety by outcompeting them for food. The ban would also apply to Canadian lobster exports.