Council 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

Type Regulation
Publication 2003-11-13
Last updated 2022-12-22
State In force
Department Council of the European Union
Source EUR-Lex
articles 16
Reform history JSON API

CHAPTER 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Object

This Regulation lays down general rules and conditions for the application by the Community of:

  • (a) the statistical document programmes for  bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), swordfish (Xiphias gladius) and bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) adopted by the ‘ICCAT’.

Article 2

Scope

This Regulation shall apply to  bluefin tuna, swordfish and bigeye tuna as referred to in Article 1:

  • (a) caught by a Community vessel or producer, or
  • (b) imported into the Community, or
  • (c) exported or re-exported from the Community to a third country.

This Regulation shall not apply to bigeye tuna taken by seiners or baitboats and intended mainly for the canning industry in the areas of application of the Agreement for the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (hereinafter called ‘the IOTC Agreement’) and the ICCAT Convention.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

  • (b) swordfish: fish of the species Xiphias gladius falling within the TARIC codes listed in Annex II;
  • (c) bigeye tuna: fish of the species Thunnus obesus falling within the TARIC codes listed in Annex III;
  • (d) fishing: capture by a vessel with a view to landing, transhipment or placing in a cage or by a producer using a tuna trap net, of any fish belonging to one of the species listed in Article 1;
  • (e) Community producer: natural persons or legal entities using the means of production for obtaining fishery products with a view to first-stage marketing;
  • (f) importation: the customs procedures referred to in Article 4, points 16(a) to 16(f), of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code ([^E0001]);
  • (g) large-scale fishing vessel: fishing vessel 20 metres in length overall or greater;
  • (h) large-scale pelagic longline vessel: pelagic longline vessel 24 metres in length overall or greater.

CHAPTER 2 STATISTICAL MONITORING

Section 1 Requirements on Member States in respect of imports

Article 4

Statistical document for importation
1.

All quantities of fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1 imported from a third country into the territory of the Community shall be accompanied by a statistical document drawn up in accordance with the specimen shown at:

  • — Annex V in the case of swordfish,
  • — Annex VI or Annex VII in the case of bigeye tuna.
2.

A statistical document shall:

  • (a) contain all the information specified in the relevant Annexes referred to in paragraph 1 and all the signatures required by the appropriate operators, who shall be answerable for the declarations made therein;
  • (b) be validated:
  • (i) where the fishing has been carried out by a vessel: by a civil servant duly approved by the flag State of the vessel which carries out the fishing or by any other person or institution duly approved by that State. In the case of the third countries listed in Annex IVb, validation may be undertaken by an institution recognised for that purpose by that country;
  • (ii) where the fishing has been carried out using a trap net: by a civil servant duly approved by the State in whose territorial waters the catch has been taken;
  • (iii) in the case of swordfish,  bluefin tuna and bigeye tuna caught by a vessel operating under a charter agreement: by a civil servant or any other person or institution duly approved by the exporting State;
  • (iv) in the case of bigeye tuna caught by one of the vessels listed in Annexes VIIIa and VIIIb: by a Japanese or Taiwanese government official or by any other person duly approved for that purpose by the Governments of those countries;
  • (c) if the fishing has been carried out by a large-scale fishing vessel, be accepted only when that vessel is on the ICCAT record of vessels.
3.

The statistical document shall be delivered to the competent authorities of the Member State in which the product is imported.

4.

The Member States shall ensure that their customs authorities or other competent official agents request and examine all documents, including the statistical document, for imports of fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1.

Those authorities may also examine the content of any cargo in order to verify the accuracy of the information contained in those documents.

5.

The importation of fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1 shall be prohibited where the cargo concerned is not accompanied by the statistical document for the relevant importation, validated and completed in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2.

Section 2 Requirements on Member States in respect of exports

Article 5

Statistical document for exportation
1.

All quantities of fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1 caught by a Community vessel or taken by a Community producer and exported to a third country shall be accompanied by a statistical document drawn up in accordance with the specimen shown at:

  • — Annex V in the case of swordfish;
  • — Annex VI or Annex VII in the case of bigeye tuna.
2.

A statistical document shall:

  • (a) contain all the information specified in the relevant Annexes referred to in paragraph 1 and all the signatures required by the appropriate operators, who shall be answerable for the declarations made therein;
  • (b) be validated by:
  • (i) the competent authorities of the flag Member State, or
  • (ii) the competent authorities of another Member State in which the products are landed, provided the corresponding quantities are exported outside the Community from the territory of that Member State. The latter shall transmit a copy of the validated statistical document to the flag Member State within two months;
  • (c) if the fishing has been carried out by a large-scale fishing vessel, be validated only when that vessel is on the ICCAT record of vessels.
3.

The Member States shall ensure that their customs authorities or other competent official agents request and examine all documents, including the statistical document, for exports of all fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1.

These authorities may also examine the content of any cargo in order to verify the accuracy of the information contained in those documents.

4.

Each Member State shall send the Commission the information concerning its competent authorities referred to in paragraph 2(b). The Commission shall forward this information to the other Member States.

5.

The export of fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1 shall be prohibited where the load concerned is not accompanied by the statistical document for the relevant export, validated and completed in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2.

Section 3 Requirements on Member States in respect of re-exports

Article 6

Re-export certificates
1.

A re-export certificate shall accompany all quantities of fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1 which are:

  • (a) re-exported from the Community to a third country following importation into the Community; or
  • (b) imported into the territory of the Community from a third country after having been re-exported by that third country.

Re-export certificates shall be drawn up in accordance with the specimen shown at:

  • (b) Annex X in the case of swordfish;
  • (c) Annex XI or Annex XII in the case of bigeye tuna.
2.

Re-export certificates shall:

  • (a) contain all the information specified in the relevant Annexes referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 1 and all the signatures required by the appropriate operators, who shall be answerable for the declarations made therein;
  • (b) be validated by the competent authorities of the Member State from which the re-export is to take place or the competent authorities of the third country from which the re-export has taken place;
  • (c) be accompanied by a duly validated copy of the statistical document for importation referred to in Article 4.
3.

Member States which authenticate re-export certificates in accordance with paragraph 2(b) shall require re-exporters to provide the necessary documents certifying that the cargo of fish re-exported corresponds to the cargo of fish originally imported. The Member States shall provide the flag State or the exporting State, upon request, with a copy of the certificate.

4.

The re-export certificate shall be delivered to the competent authorities of the Member State of importation or re-exportation.

5.

The Member States shall ensure that their customs authorities or other competent official agents request and examine all documents, including the re-export certificate, for the re-export of fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1.

These authorities may also examine the content of any cargo in order to verify the accuracy of the information contained in those documents.

6.

The re-export and import following the re-export of fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1 shall be prohibited where the cargo concerned is not accompanied by the corresponding certificate, validated and completed in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2.

Article 7

Repeated re-exports
1.

All quantities of fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1, re-exported after having already been re-exported, shall be accompanied by a new re-export certificate, validated and completed in accordance with Article 6(1) and (2).

Article 6 (3), (4), (5) and (6) shall apply.

2.

The new certificate referred to in paragraph 1 shall be accompanied by a certified copy of the preceding, duly validated, re-export certificates which accompanied the cargo.

Section 4 Requirements for Member States in respect of transhipped products in the ICCAT Convention area

Article 7a

Statistical documents and reporting
1.

When validating statistical documents, the flag Member State of large-scale pelagic longline vessels shall ensure that transhipments are consistent with the reported catch amount by each such vessel.

2.

The flag Member State of large-scale pelagic longline vessels shall validate statistical documents for the transhipped fish, after confirming that the transhipment was conducted in accordance with Articles 51 to 58 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2107 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0002]). That confirmation shall be based on the information obtained through the ICCAT regional observer programme for transhipment at sea.

3.

Member States shall require that the species covered by the statistical document programs caught by large-scale pelagic longline vessels in the ICCAT Convention area, when imported into their area or territory, are accompanied by statistical documents validated for the vessels on the ICCAT list of large-scale pelagic longline vessels authorised to tranship at sea and a copy of the ICCAT transhipment declaration.

CHAPTER 3 TRANSMISSION OF DATA

Article 8

Information concerning validation

Each Member State shall forward to the Commission not later than 30 days following the entry into force of this Regulation a specimen of its statistical documents and re-export certificates. It shall also forward to the Commission all necessary information concerning validation and, in good time, any changes to those documents and certificates, in accordance with:

  • (a) the ICCAT specimen shown at Annex XIII for  bluefin tuna, swordfish and bigeye tuna.

Article 9

Transmission of data
1.

Member States which import, export or re-export fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1 shall forward to the Commission by computer transmission before 15 March for the period from 1 July to 31 December of the preceding year and before 15 September for the period from 1 January to 30 June of the current year, a report on:

  • (a) the quantities of each commercial presentation of fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1 imported into their territory, broken down by third country of origin, place of catch and type of fishing gear used;
  • (b) the quantities of each commercial presentation of fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1 imported into their territory after having been re-exported by a third country, broken down by third country of origin, place of capture and type of fishing gear used.
2.

The report referred to in paragraph 1 shall contain the information specified in:

  • (b) Annex XVI for swordfish;
  • (c) Annex XVII or Annex XVIII for bigeye tuna.

Article 10

National report

Member States which export fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1 shall check that the information on imports transmitted by the Commission corresponds to their own information. They shall inform the Commission of the outcome of such cross-checks in the national report referred to in Article 9 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1936/2001 of 27 September 2001 laying down control measures applicable to fishing for certain stocks of highly migratory fish ([^E0003]).

CHAPTER 4 FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 11

Amendment of Annexes

The Annexes hereto may be amended in accordance with the ICCAT and the IOTC conservation measures which become binding on the Community and in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 12(2).

Article 12

Committee procedure
1.

The Commission shall be assisted by the Management Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture established by Article 30 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy ([^E0004]).

2.

Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at one month.

3.

The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 13

Repeal
1.

Regulation (EC) No 858/94 is hereby repealed.

2.

References to the repealed Regulation shall be understood as references to this Regulation and are to be read in accordance with the table of equivalence shown in Annex XIX.

Article 14

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following 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.

ANNEX II

PRODUCTS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 3(b)

Without prejudice to the rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature, the wording of the description of the goods is regarded as being for information purposes only. In the context of this Annex, the TARIC codes will apply, as they exist when this Regulation is adopted.

TARIC code

0301999070

0302698700

0303798700

0304103870

0304109855

0304208700

0304906500

0305200019

0305200076

0305200077

0305309040

0305498020

0305599050

0305699050

1604199130

1604199820

1604209060

ANNEX III

PRODUCTS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 3(c)

Without prejudice to the rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature, the wording of the description of the goods is regarded as being for information purposes only. In the context of this Annex, the TARIC codes will apply, as they exist when this Regulation is adopted.

TARIC code

0301999075

0302341000

0302349000

0303441100

0303441300

0303441900

0303449000

0304103875

0304109865

0304204520

0304909775

0305200021

0305200078

0305200079

0305309075

0305498060

0305599045

0305699040

1604141130

1604141135

1604141630

1604141635

1604141830

1604141835

1604207040

1604207045

ANNEX IVb

Third countries recognised by ICCAT for which the statistical document can be validated by an institution authorised for this purpose, for example a chamber of commerce: Angola, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry, Japan, Korea, Libya, Morocco, Russia, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, Tunisia, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela.

ANNEX V

Image omitted; see official source Image omitted; see official source Image omitted; see official source

ANNEX VI

Image omitted; see official source Image omitted; see official source Image omitted; see official source

ANNEX VIIIa

List of vessels participating in the Japanese breaking-up programme
(At 1 November 2001) (At 1 November 2001) (At 1 November 2001) (At 1 November 2001) (At 1 November 2001) (At 1 November 2001) (At 1 November 2001)
No Year of breaking up Flag State Name of vessel Tonnage Year of construction Fishing area
1 2002 BOLIVIA YING CHIN HSIANG 66 379 1979 INDIAN OCEAN
2 2002 CAMBODIA HUA CHENG 707 606 1980 INDIAN OCEAN
3 2002 CAMBODIA HUA CHUNG 808 549 1980 INDIAN OCEAN
4 2002 PHILIPPINES CHEN FA 736 636 1979 ATLANTIC
5 2002 BOLIVIA ZHONG I 85 437 1976 PACIFIC
6 2002 BELIZE LIEN TAI 491 1979 ATLANTIC
7 2003 BELIZE JEFFREY 131 597 1980 PACIFIC
8 2003 EQUATORIAL GUINEA WIN FAR 236 672 1978 INDIAN OCEAN
9 2003 EQUATORIAL GUINEA WIN FAR 266 535 1979 INDIAN OCEAN
10 2003 BOLIVIA CHIN I MING 663 1979 ATLANTIC
11 2003 BOLIVIA CHIN CHANG MING 578 1980 ATLANTIC
12 2003 BOLIVIA GOLDEN RICH (previously: ZHONG XIN 26) 520 1974 ATLANTIC
13 2003 BOLIVIA CHI MAN 556 1982 INDIAN OCEAN
14 2003 BOLIVIA HUNG YU 112 690 1981 INDIAN OCEAN
15 2003 EQUATORIAL GUINEA CHEN CHIANG 1 578 1988 INDIAN OCEAN

ANNEX VIIIb

List of vessels flying the Taiwanese flag participating in the re-registration programme
No Flag State Name of vessel Tonnage Fishing area Year of construction
1 EQUATORIAL GUINEA YIH SHUEN NO 212 470 INDIAN OCEAN 1999
2 SEYCHELLES SEYGEM 573 PACIFIC 1997
3 SEYCHELLES SEYSTAR 573 PACIFIC 1998
4 VANUATU NINE LUCKY No 1 508 PACIFIC 1998
5 BELIZE WIN FAR No 868 498 PACIFIC 1999
6 EQUATORIAL GUINEA WEI CHING 498 ATLANTIC 1997
7 BELIZE JUI YING No 666 498 PACIFIC 1997
8 BELIZE CHEN FA No 1 550 INDIAN OCEAN 1997
9 SEYCHELLES SEYPERAL 680 PACIFIC 1998
10 BELIZE PING YUAN No 201 706 INDIAN OCEAN 1996
11 BELIZE LIAN HORNG No 777 499 PACIFIC 1998
12 BELIZE FONG KU No 36 521 PACIFIC 1997
13 BELIZE SHYE SIN No 1 598 O. INDIAN OCEAN 1997
14 BELIZE HUNG YU No 212 470 ATLANTIC 1997
15 BELIZE HWA CHIN No 202 470 ATLANTIC 1997
16 BELIZE SUNG HUI 573 ATLANTIC 1998
17 BELIZE HSIEN HUA 106 625 PACIFIC 2000
18 BELIZE HSIEN HUA 107 625 PACIFIC 2000
19 BELIZE FU YUAN No 66 683 PACIFIC 1998
20 BELIZE LONG CHANG No 3 589 ATLANTIC 1997

ANNEX X

Image omitted; see official source Image omitted; see official source

ANNEX XI

Image omitted; see official source Image omitted; see official source

ANNEX XIII

Image omitted; see official source

ANNEX XVI

Image omitted; see official source Image omitted; see official source

ANNEX XVII

Image omitted; see official source Image omitted; see official source

ANNEX XIX

Regulation (EC) No 858/94 This Regulation
—  Article 1 —  Article 2
—  Article 2 —  Article 4
—  Article 2a —  Article 5
—  Article 3(1), (2) and (3) —  Article 4
—  Article 3(4) —  Article 6
—  Article 3a —  Article 6
—  Article 4 —
—  Article 5 —  Article 9
—  Annex I —  Annex IVa
—  Annex II —  Annex IVb
—  Annex III —  Annex IX

[^E0001]: OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2700/2000 (OJ L 311, 12.12.2000, p. 17).

[^E0002]: Regulation (EU) 2017/2107 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2017 laying down management, conservation and control measures applicable in the Convention area of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), and amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1936/2001, (EC) No 1984/2003 and (EC) No 520/2007 (OJ L 315, 30.11.2017, p. 1).

[^E0003]: OJ L 263, 3.10.2001, p. 1.

[^E0004]: OJ L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59.

Reading this document does not replace reading the official text published in the Official Journal of the European Union. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies arising from the conversion of the original to this format.

This text is published under EUR-Lex's own terms of reuse, not a Legalize or public-domain licence. EUR-Lex
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
© European Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu — Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the European Union). Reused under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Only EU legislation published in the printed Official Journal of the European Union is deemed authentic; consolidated texts are reproduced here for documentation purposes and have been reformatted to Markdown.