ATLANTA — The Georgia Senate has approved a bill that would require restaurants to inform customers if the shrimp they are serving is imported from other countries.

Under the measure, restaurants would be required to post the disclosure on menus or on placards. The bill now awaits final approval in the state House.

State Senator Ben Watson says shrimp served in restaurants is often imported and grown outside the United States.

“Where they grow these shrimp in ponds, swimming in their own feces, given antibiotics and hormones,” Watson said.

Watson says shrimp caught off the coast of Georgia is different.

“In the state of Georgia, our native domestic shrimp caught off the coast of Georgia, never has antibiotics, never has growth hormones,” he said.

Watson also says more than three-quarters of shrimp tested in Savannah was imported from countries such as China and India.

If approved by the House, the measure would require restaurants statewide to clearly disclose whether the shrimp they serve is imported.