ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED & UNREGULATED FISHING
Latest News from Seafish

In the light of new information being made available on IUU regulations from the EU, please find below our second update with links to key documents.

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The Regulation - implementing rules and handbook

Regulation
EU Council Regulation 1005/2008 establishes a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing. See EU Regulation 1005 

EU Council Regulation 1010/2009 which contains detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation 1005/2008. See: EU Council Regulation 1010 

EU handbook provides technical advice to administrations and operators and answers the most frequent questions. It gives a general overview on the content of all chapters of the IUU Regulation and deals with specific questions on the catch certification scheme. See:
ec.europa.eu/illegal fishing/pdf

EU list of notified countries

The EU is updating its list of notified countries. The current list is dated 15 December 2009. At this date 68 third countries had notified the Commission of their Competent Authorities. However, 17 counties that export over £100,000 of seafood to the UK have not yet notified the Commission of their Competent Authority and have not received approval for exporting to the UK. Of particular note are Russia (£38m), India (£39m) and Bangladesh (£34m), although Russia has informed the Commission it will be notifying in mid-December.

For the full Seafish table of third countries not yet approved at 15 December 2009 and a list of the Competent Authorities for the 27 EU Member States see: tinyurl.com/seafish-iuu

For the full EU list of notified countries see: ec.europa flag_state_notifications.pdf

EU bi-lateral agreements

November 2009 - The European Commission has signed administrative cooperation agreements with New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Norway and Iceland. The agreements recognise that the control systems in place in these countries equals the level of control laid down in the European Regulation. See: ec.europa.eu/fisheries/press_corner/press_releases/2009/com09_65_en.htm 

and

ec.europa/fisheries/press_corner/press_releases/2009/com09_74_en.htm

The latest Defra news on implementation

• UK Statutory Instrument - This is due to come into force on 13 January 2010 in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland are a little behind. However from 1 January relevant catch certificates will be required.
• UK Catch certificates - This will have to be issued by the IUU Catch Certificate Centre for all exports that will, or could be, re-imported into the EU. Norway, Iceland and Thailand have also notified that they will require certificates on imports from EU countries.
• Fish caught before 1 January 2010 - Defra is due to publish a pro-forma letter that could be signed by either the exporting county Competent Authority, or the exporting company, confirming that the fish was caught before 1 January 2010. The Commission are however adamant that we cannot oblige third countries and operators to sign such an agreement.
• Charges - APHA has agreed a charge of £45 per consignment to check all catch certificates related to the consignment, irrespective of the number of catch certificates. The charge is calculated on a cost recovery basis and will be reviewed with Defra after three months.
• Further communication - Defra is to publish an information note on the EU implementing regulation on their website w/c 21 December.

For further information

DEDICATED SEAFISH EMAIL ADDRESS - Individual concerns and questions can be sent to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

EU IUU website: ec.europa.eu.fisheries/cfp/external_relations/illegal_fishing.en.htm

Defra IUU website: defra.gov.uk/food/farm/fisheries/marine/conservation/iuu-regulation.htm 

Seafish website - for general information and to download the presentations from the Seafish/Defra seminars: tinyurl.com/seafish-iuu
 

The new regulation is intended to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing by making it more difficult for illegally caught fish to enter the EU market from third countries, by introducing new rules on imports and exports of fish and fish products to and from the EU.

To ensure businesses are up-to-date on how this new regulation will be implemented Seafish has set up an IUU web page and will issue regular e-alerts with the latest news. We would be grateful if you could please forward this email to colleagues and other organisations including handling agents who need to know about the impact of this Regulation. Anyone receiving this e-alert direct from Seafish will automatically receive further updates.