Regulation (EU) No 640/2010 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

CHAPTER II U.K. BLUEFIN TUNA CATCH DOCUMENT

[F1 Article 3 U.K. Bluefin tuna catch document: prohibitions

1. Subject to paragraphs 2, 3 and 4, it is prohibited—

(a) to land or tranship any quantity of bluefin tuna at a designated port in Great Britain or in the Great Britain zone without a completed and validated bluefin tuna catch document for each fish;

(b) for a UK fishing boat to land or tranship any quantity of bluefin tuna at a designated port outside of Great Britain or the Great Britain zone without a completed and validated bluefin tuna catch document for each fish;

(c) for a person to trade domestically, import into, export from, or re-export from, Great Britain any quantity of bluefin tuna without a completed and validated bluefin tuna catch document for the lot.

2. The bluefin tuna catch document referred to in paragraph 1 does not require validation where Article 4(5) applies.

3. Where the total quantity of bluefin tuna landed by a UK fishing boat into a designated port in Great Britain or in the Great Britain zone is—

(a) less than one metric tonne, or

(b) no more than three fish,

the boat’s fishing logbook or the sales note for the fish may be used as a temporary catch document pending validation of the bluefin tuna catch document for up to seven days but this temporary catch document may not be used for export of the fish.

4. Where a fishing boat is required to land any bluefin tuna caught as by-catch, the prohibition on landing the fish without a bluefin tuna catch document in paragraph 1(a) and (b) does not apply where sale of the fish is prohibited and the fish is subject to confiscation on landing.

5. Where paragraph 1(a) applies to a fishing boat and the boat is also landing or transhipping tuna of the species Thunnus orientalis (“Pacific tuna”), the requirement for a completed and validated bluefin tuna catch document also applies to each Pacific tuna landed or transhipped.

6. Where—

(a) a fishing boat lands or tranships in contravention of a prohibition in paragraph 1(a) or (b), the master, the owner and the charterer (if any) are each guilty of an offence;

(b) a person contravenes a prohibition in paragraph 1(c), the person is guilty of an offence.

Textual Amendments

F1 Arts. 3-5A substituted for arts 3-5 (1.4.2024) by The Sea Fisheries (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/439), regs. 1(1), 4(4)

Article 3A U.K. Bluefin tuna catch document

1. Each licensing authority must seek to restrict any access it facilitates to the electronic catch document system, for the purpose of entering information—

(a) only to UK fishing boats that the authority has licensed;

(b) so that each electronic bluefin tuna catch document will be uniquely identifiable and unique to the UK fishing boat to which the catch relates.

2. Each licensing authority must seek to ensure that paper bluefin tuna catch documents—

(a) are only used where Article 5A applies;

(b) are only given to UK fishing boats that the authority has licensed;

(c) contain unique document identification numbers which are uniquely identifiable, unique to the UK fishing boat in question and non-transferrable.

Textual Amendments

F1 Arts. 3-5A substituted for arts 3-5 (1.4.2024) by The Sea Fisheries (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/439), regs. 1(1), 4(4)

Article 4 U.K. Bluefin tuna catch document: validation

1. On each occasion where a UK fishing boat lands (except where Article 3(4) applies) or tranships any quantity of bluefin tuna, the master of the boat must complete a bluefin tuna catch document and, subject to paragraph 5, request its validation by the boat’s licensing authority.

2. Upon a request made under paragraph 1, the licensing authority must not validate the bluefin tuna catch document unless the authority is satisfied—

(a) where appropriate following an inspection of the bluefin tuna landed, that all the information contained in the catch document has been established to be accurate;

(b) that the total quantity of bluefin tuna covered by the validation request is within the United Kingdom’s catch quota and the catch quota for the fishing boat in question;

(c) that the catching and landing of the bluefin tuna in question was carried out in full compliance with all relevant requirements placed on the fishing boat in question via any other enactment or via conditions attached to the boat’s licence under paragraph 1 of Schedule 3 to the Fisheries Act 2020.

3. On each occasion where a person trades domestically or exports any quantity of bluefin tuna, the person must, subject to paragraphs 5 and 6, request validation of the bluefin tuna catch document applicable to the lot by the licensing authority of the fishing boat which completed the catch document or by the licensing authority for the area from which the person is trading or exporting the fish.

4. Upon a request made under paragraph 3, the licensing authority must not validate the bluefin tuna catch document unless the authority is satisfied, following verification of information and, where appropriate, inspection of the lot, that the information contained in the catch document is accurate.

5. Validation of the bluefin tuna catch document is not required where the fish to which the catch document relates is tagged in accordance with Article 5.

6. Where the first domestic trade of a bluefin tuna lot is facilitated by a completed and validated electronic bluefin catch document, that catch document may be used for all subsequent domestic trade of that lot and no further entry on the electronic catch document system is required.

Textual Amendments

F1 Arts. 3-5A substituted for arts 3-5 (1.4.2024) by The Sea Fisheries (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/439), regs. 1(1), 4(4)

Article 5 U.K. Tagging

A licensing authority may require any fishing boat that it has licensed to affix a tag to each bluefin tuna caught by the boat in the ICCAT Convention area. Where this requirement is imposed, the tag must—

(a) be affixed to the fish prior to landing,

(b) be tamper-proof, and

(c) contain the following minimum information—

(i) a unique tag number which is linked to the bluefin tuna catch document;

(ii) information identifying the fishing boat that caught the tuna;

(iii) date of capture or landing;

(iv) the area in which the fish was caught;

(v) the gear used to catch the fish;

(vi) the type of product and the individual weight of the fish;

(vii) where applicable, the importer or exporter’s details;

(viii) where applicable, the point of export.

Textual Amendments

F1 Arts. 3-5A substituted for arts 3-5 (1.4.2024) by The Sea Fisheries (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/439), regs. 1(1), 4(4)

Article 5A U.K. Paper bluefin tuna catch documents

1. A paper bluefin tuna catch document may be used only in accordance with this Article.

2. Where the total quantity of bluefin tuna landed by a boat is—

(a) less than one metric tonne, or

(b) no more than three fish,

a paper bluefin tuna catch document may be used for up to seven days pending conversion of the catch document into an electronic bluefin tuna catch document, but the paper catch document may not be used for export of the fish.

3. A paper bluefin tuna catch document may be used for the import or domestic trade of bluefin tuna caught prior to 1st January 2017.

4. A paper bluefin tuna catch document may be used in the event that technical problems arise with the electronic catch document system which prevent the completion or validation of the relevant electronic bluefin tuna catch document provided—

(a) the technical problems which prevent the completion or validation of the catch document arise with the electronic catch document system itself and not with a system used by the master of the fishing boat, the licensing authority or the relevant authority of the boat’s flag State, to access the electronic catch document system,

(b) the relevant procedures specified by ICCAT to be followed in the event of technical problems with the electronic catch document system have been followed and the technical problem has not been resolved, and

(c) the paper catch document is not used for any longer than necessary once the technical problems have been resolved so as to allow the paper catch document to be converted into an electronic bluefin tuna catch document.

5. A paper bluefin tuna catch document may be used for tuna of the species Thunnus orientalis (“Pacific tuna”) to comply with the requirement in Article 3(5).

6. A paper bluefin tuna catch document may be used for import from, or export to, another State that is not a contracting party, or a non-contracting cooperating party, to the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas where the State in question does not have access to the electronic catch document system and it is not reasonably practicable in the circumstances to facilitate the use of an electronic bluefin tuna catch document through ICCAT.

7. Where a paper bluefin tuna catch document is used it must—

(a) either be in the format set out in Annex 3 or be a printout of a completed electronic bluefin tuna catch document,

(b) be completed with the information, where relevant, specified in Annex 2, and

(c) be issued, numbered, completed and validated in accordance with the instructions set out in Annex 4.

8. Each licensing authority must retain a copy of each paper bluefin tuna catch document it has validated or received for a minimum period of two years.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Arts. 3-5A substituted for arts 3-5 (1.4.2024) by The Sea Fisheries (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/439), regs. 1(1), 4(4)