Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/423 of 19 March 2020 amending Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009 as regards administrative arrangements with third countries on catch certificates for marine fisheries products

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/423of 19 March 2020amending Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009 as regards administrative arrangements with third countries on catch certificates for marine fisheries products THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 of 29 September 2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishingOJ L 286, 29.10.2008, p. 1., and in particular Article 20(4) thereof,Whereas:(1)Administrative arrangements with third countries on catch certificates for fisheries products are listed in Annex IX to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009Commission Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009 of 22 October 2009 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (OJ L 280, 27.10.2009, p. 5).. These arrangements include specimens of the catch certificates validated by the competent authorities of the third countries concerned.(2)The United States have revised the United States catch certificate specimen in view particularly of the new IT tool, CATCH, developed by the Commission for the Union catch certification scheme.(3)Annex IX to Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009 should be amended accordingly.(4)The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1Annex IX to Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009 is amended as set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2Entry into forceThis Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.Done at Brussels, 19 March 2020.For the CommissionThe PresidentUrsula von der LeyenANNEXIn Annex IX to Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009, Section 2 is replaced by the following:"Section 2UNITED STATESCATCH CERTIFICATION SCHEMEIn accordance with Article 12(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, the catch certificate provided for in Article 12 and Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 shall be replaced – for fisheries products obtained from catches made by fishing vessels flying the flag of the United States – by the U.S. catch certificate based on the U.S. Catch Certification System (described in Appendix 2) which is an electronic reporting and record keeping system under the control of the U.S. authorities ensuring the same level of control by authorities as required under the European Union catch certification scheme.A specimen of the U.S. catch certificate, which shall replace the European Union Catch Certificate and Re-export Certificate, is provided in Appendix 1. This revised U.S. catch certificate may cover fisheries products obtained from catches made by single vessels or groups of vessels as described in Appendix 2.MUTUAL ASSISTANCEMutual assistance under Article 51 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 shall be developed to facilitate the exchange of information and administrative cooperation between respective competent authorities in the United States and Member States of the European Union, based on the detailed rules on mutual assistance laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009.

"

Appendix 1Appendix 2The U.S. Catch Documentation Scheme, as revised in 2019, is designed to issue a single form of catch certificate for export consignments from the United States to the European Union (EU) of fishery products, raw and processed.On the U.S. catch certificate, U.S. exporters will be required to 1) list the single vessel responsible for the harvest of fish or fisheries products comprising the respective consignment with all of the applicable information required on the United States Attestation of Legal Catch; or 2) provide a vessel grouping name responsible for the harvest of fish or fisheries products comprising the respective consignment with all of the applicable information required on the United States Attestation of Legal Catch.The grouping feature will be used for fisheries subject to significant commingling of catch at-sea or on-shore (for example, fisheries including but not limited to: those where initial catches are divided by size before further dispatch e.g., lobster; or those in which multiple harvest vessels deliver fish to tender vessels at sea).Groupings will be managed by the U.S. producer or processor requesting the certificate and subject to audit. Reflecting current U.S. practices, the U.S. producer or processor will be responsible for retaining all information corresponding to the vessels or list of vessels which contributed to the consignment and providing that information to the U.S. Government competent authority upon request.The single vessel or grouping feature will enable the United States to produce a single certificate per shipment while having access to the complete vessel information behind each shipment.This information will be available to authorities in importing Member States upon request to the U.S. Government competent authority.