In 2006 the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) adopted a multiannual recovery plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. ICCAT amended that multiannual recovery plan during the 2008 Annual Meeting. The amended plan was transposed into Union law by way of Council Regulation (EC) No 302/2009 of 6 April 2009 concerning a multiannual recovery plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean2. This plan was further amended and endorsed in the 2010 ICCAT Annual Meeting by way of ICCAT Recommendation 10-043.

To ensure the successful implementation of the amended multiannual recovery plan, Commission Decision 2009/296/EC4 established a specific control and inspection programme covering a period of two years, from 15 March 2009 to 15 March 2011.

The specific control and inspection programme related to the recovery of bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as established by Commission Decision 2011/207/EU5, was adopted with a view of ensuring the continuity of the programme established by Decision 2009/296/EC and immediately implementing certain provisions of ICCAT Recommendation 10-04, in particular those on the early submission of required fishing and inspection plans. Decision 2011/207/EU covers the period from 15 March 2011 to 15 March 2014.

In light of the discussions in ICCAT at the 2011 Annual Meeting and with a view to fully implement the provisions required by ICCAT, it is appropriate to implement the requirements concerning sampling and pilot operations set out in paragraph 87 of ICCAT Recommendation 10-04 establishing a multiannual recovery plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.

It is also appropriate to update and correct certain obsolete or erroneous references that existed in Decision 2011/207/EU.

Decision 2011/207/EU should therefore be amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,