Regulation (EU) 2022/2343 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 November 2022 laying down management, conservation and control measures applicable in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) Area of Competence, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1936/2001, (EC) No 1984/2003 and (EC) No 520/2007
Regulation (EU) 2022/2343 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 23 November 2022laying down management, conservation and control measures applicable in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) Area of Competence, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1936/2001, (EC) No 1984/2003 and (EC) No 520/2007THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43(2) thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social CommitteeOJ C 341, 24.8.2021, p. 106.,Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedurePosition of the European Parliament of 4 October 2022 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council of 24 October 2022.,Whereas:(1)The objective of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), as set out in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC (OJ L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 22)., is to ensure the exploitation of marine biological resources in a way that contributes to long-term environmental, economic and social sustainability.(2)The Union has, by means of Council Decision 98/392/ECCouncil Decision 98/392/EC of 23 March 1998 concerning the conclusion by the European Community of the United Nations Convention of 10 December 1982 on the Law of the Sea and the Agreement of 28 July 1994 relating to the implementation of Part XI thereof (OJ L 179, 23.6.1998, p. 1)., approved the United Nations Convention of 10 December 1982 on the Law of the Sea. By means of Council Decision 98/414/ECCouncil Decision 98/414/EC of 8 June 1998 on the ratification by the European Community of the Agreement for the implementing of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the conservation and management of straddling stocks and highly migratory fish stocks (OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 14)., the Union has approved the Agreement for the Implementation of that Convention relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, which contains principles and rules with regard to the conservation and management of the living resources of the sea. In the framework of its wider international obligations, the Union participates in efforts made in international waters to conserve fish stocks.(3)Pursuant to Council Decision 95/399/ECCouncil Decision 95/399/EC of 18 September 1995 on the accession of the Community to the Agreement for the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (OJ L 236, 5.10.1995, p. 24)., the Union is a contracting party to the Agreement for the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC).(4)The IOTC adopts annual conservation and management measures (CMMs) by way of resolutions that are binding on contracting parties and on cooperating non-contracting parties to the IOTC, including on the Union. This Regulation implements resolutions of the IOTC, adopted between 2000 and 2021, except for measures which already form part of Union law.(5)To ensure compliance with Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, Union legislation has been adopted to establish a system of control, inspection and enforcement, which includes the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. In particular, Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Union control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy, amending Regulations (EC) No 847/96, (EC) No 2371/2002, (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 2115/2005, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007, (EC) No 676/2007, (EC) No 1098/2007, (EC) No 1300/2008, (EC) No 1342/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1627/94 and (EC) No 1966/2006 (OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 1). establishes a Union system for control, inspection and enforcement with a global and integrated approach so as to ensure compliance with all the rules of the CFP. Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 of 29 September 2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, amending Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1936/2001 and (EC) No 601/2004 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1093/94 and (EC) No 1447/1999 (OJ L 286, 29.10.2008, p. 1). establishes a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing. Those Regulations already include provisions covering a number of the measures laid down in IOTC resolutions. It is therefore not necessary to include those provisions in this Regulation.(6)In accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2019/473 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) 2019/473 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019 on the European Fisheries Control Agency (OJ L 83, 25.3.2019, p. 18)., the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) should, at the Commission’s request, assist the Union and the Member States in their relations with third countries and regional international fisheries organisations of which the Union is a member. When needed for the implementation of Union obligations, EFCA should, at the Commission’s request, coordinate control and inspection activities by Member States on the basis of international control and inspection programmes, which may include programmes implemented in IOTC CMMs, in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2019/473. EFCA may draw up, in concert with the Member States concerned, joint operational inspection and surveillance programmes for that purpose by establishing joint deployment plans. It is therefore appropriate to adopt provisions that include EFCA, when so designated by the Commission, as the body designated by the Commission that receives from Member States and transmits to the IOTC Secretariat information relating to control and inspection, such as at sea inspection reports and notifications of the control observers scheme.(7)Taking into account the situation of fish stocks and the need to ensure effective control activities and a level-playing field for all operators in the IOTC area, and pursuant to Articles 28 and 29 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, Union actions in international fisheries organisations are to be based on the best available scientific advice so as to ensure that fishery resources are managed in accordance with the objectives laid down in Article 2 of that Regulation, and the Union is to ensure that Union fishing activities outside Union waters are based on the same principles and standards as those applicable under Union law, including those relating to control of fishing activities, while promoting a level-playing field for Union operators vis-à-vis third-country operators.(8)The IOTC Rules of Procedure establish English and French as its official languages. In order to permit operators to effectively carry out their activities falling within the scope of this Regulation and to avoid obstacles in communication with the competent port authorities, the transhipment declaration should be submitted in one of the official languages of the IOTC.(9)When Member States and the Commission conduct research on certain species in the IOTC area, such as oceanic whitetip sharks, thresher sharks and blue sharks, they should also consider the impact of climate change on their abundance.(10)The European Data Protection Supervisor was consulted in accordance with Article 42(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39)., and delivered formal comments on 23 May 2022. Personal data processed in the framework of this Regulation is to be treated in accordance with the applicable provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1). and Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. In order to ensure effective enforcement of this Regulation, it is necessary to store those personal data for a period of 10 years. In the event that the personal data in question are needed in order to follow up an infringement, inspection or judicial or administrative procedures, it should be possible for those data to be stored for a period exceeding 10 years, but no longer than 20 years.(11)In order to swiftly implement into Union law future IOTC resolutions amending or supplementing the ones established in this Regulation, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in respect of amending provisions concerning the use of non-entangling and biodegradable fish aggregating devices (FADs), ports designated under the IOTC rules, information per vessel for the list of active vessels for tuna and swordfish, the percentage of observer coverage and field samplers coverage for artisanal fisheries, conditions of chartering, the percentage of inspections for port landings, reporting deadlines and Annexes 1 to 10 to this Regulation that cover IOTC requirements for catch reporting, birds mitigation measures, data collections and FADs, chartering requirements, transhipment declaration and certain bigeye tuna statistical programme documents, as well as references to IOTC conservation and management measures that relate to principles for design and deployment of FADs to reduce entanglement, FAD reporting, marking and identification of vessels, IUU reporting documents, bigeye tuna statistical programme documents, port state entry notifications, minimum standard port Member State inspection procedures, reporting forms for infringements and catch and fishing measures reporting templates. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-MakingOJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1.. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.(12)As this Regulation provides a new and comprehensive set of rules, the provisions concerning IOTC CMMs laid down in Council Regulations (EC) No 1936/2001Council Regulation (EC) No 1936/2001 of 27 September 2001 laying down control measures applicable to fishing for certain stocks of highly migratory fish (OJ L 263, 3.10.2001, p. 1)., (EC) No 1984/2003Council Regulation (EC) No 1984/2003 of 8 April 2003 introducing a system for the statistical monitoring of trade in bluefin tuna, swordfish and bigeye tuna within the Community (OJ L 295, 13.11.2003, p. 1). and (EC) No 520/2007Council Regulation (EC) No 520/2007 of 7 May 2007 laying down technical measures for the conservation of certain stocks of highly migratory species and repealing Regulation (EC) No 973/2001 (OJ L 123, 12.5.2007, p. 3). should be deleted. Those Regulations should therefore be amended accordingly,HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: