U.S. Implementation of EC IUU Regulation

Tim Hansen

James Appel

Linda Chaves

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What is IUU?

- Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated fishing

- IUU practices are valued at approximately $15 Billion annually, globally (Oceanic Development Study, 2007)

- IUU fishing represents 19% of worldwide reported catch value (Oceanic Development Study, 2007)

- EC imports of IUU products are estimated at $ 1.6 Billion annually (Oceanic Development Study, 2007)

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IUU Fishing Impacts

Environmental Impacts Depletion of fish stocks and future stock growth Marine environment and ecosystem damaged by overfishing

and irresponsible fishing practices and techniques Threat to sustainable exploitation and marine biodiversity

Socioeconomic Impacts Legal catches reduced Unfair competition between legal and illegal operators Overall market prices reduced Coastal communities dependent on fishing, especially in

developing countries, can be harmed

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EU:- Largest direct

export destination

- Significant secondary export destination

- Potential to become even larger

Top 2008 U.S. Seafood Export Destinations

Total Exports: $4.3 BillionSource: U.S. Customs, USITC

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Top U.S. Export Species to the EU, 2008

$Million

Source: U.S. Customs, USITC

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The IUU Regulation: EC 1005/2008

- Passed September 29, 2008

- Entered into force January 1, 2010 for harvests beginning January 1, 2010

- Applies to all wild fisheries products harvested by EC fishermen and all imports (with minor exceptions – e.g. scallops, oysters, freshwater fish)

- All fisheries products entering the EC, whether landed or imported, require a “Catch Certification” document

- Catch Certification documents must be validated by the Competent Authority of the fishing vessel’s flag state

- The regulation allows for the development of an alternate certificate to the one in the regulation

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U.S. Certification

- NOAA Fisheries Service negotiated an alternate Catch Certificate

- NOAA Fisheries Service and Seafood Inspection Program (SIP) are the U.S. Competent Authority

- SIP currently issues all health certificates for all seafood exports

- Catch certificates to be requested on-line, when requesting EC health certificate

- Catch certificate will attest that products have been harvested in compliance with Federal and State fisheries management and conservation regulations

- Each Catch Certificate will accommodate up to 5 species

- SIP will cooperate with EC to authenticate certificates to reduce fraud

- NOAA Fisheries will conduct audits of companies’ ability to trace product back to origin

- Catch Certificate fee will be $20 initially

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Location of U.S. Exporters to the EC

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49

10

77

6 11

4

53

7

2

8

16

112

2

10

68

10 1424

5

21 2

181

3

1

16

38

5

65

6

Source: FDA

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U.S. 2008 Seafood Exports to the EU, By Export Districts

$ Million

Source: U.S. Customs, USITC

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Principal Species Exported through NW & AK Port Districts, 2008

Total: $687 Million

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Principal Species Exported to the EU through NE Port Districts, 2008

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Exporter Requirements

- Purchase and export only legally harvested and documented products; that were caught in accordance with applicable state and federal laws and management measures

- Obtain a validated catch certificate for all marine fishery products exported to the EU, including processed products, (with minor exceptions)

- Request catch certificates electronically from the NOAA Fisheries Seafood Inspection Program

- Send validated certificates electronically to the EU importer prior to product arrival in the EU

- Retain records on product provenance for three years

- Comply with SIP audit requests and procedures

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Requesting an IUU Certificate

- New inspection accounts are requested of and approved by Inspection personnel usually within a few hours.

- Once an account is set up, requests for certificates are made through the web and reviewed by Inspection personnel usually the same day.

- Certificates are signed electronically.

- Once approved, IUU certificates are emailed back to requestor.

- IUU Certificates can be requested in conjunction with EU Export Health Certificate, other country health certificate, or as a stand alone

- User guide with detailed instructions will be on the Seafood Inspection Webpage.

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Documentation Requirements

US - Caught

Foreign Caught

EU Importer

SIP Catch Certificate

www.seafood.noaa.gov

SIP Issued

Catch Certificate

Annex IV

Certificate Issued by China

US Exporter

Foreign Government

Catch Certificate

EU Importer

US Importer US Exporter

SIP Issued

Annex IV Certificate

(e.g., China)

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Status

• System is working (with minor glitches)• No product refused entry• EU Member States still learning• Have already issued 500+ “letters”, certificates, Annex IV• What we’ve learned

- Requirements for product harvested prior to 2010

Certification NOT an EC requirement

Will issue letter or cert

Demands for hard copy a requirement for EU fleet, but not for us

• Technical challenges• DSFA/PDF

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IT Challenges

New system for NMFS• Bugs not all worked out yet

Browser compatibility issues

Initial Passwords

Species list

Product descriptions

Timing out

Naming “saved” certificates

Ability to “edit” products

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Enhancements: Coming Soon!

• Ability to edit products• Third-party billing• Time-out warnings• Supersede requests• Ability to request any certificate from the program• Searching and sorting capabilities• All billing to be done through system • Ability to link bills to certificates• Custom reports

What else would you like???

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Other Issues

- Cold storage holdings in China and Korea

- US-Russia

- FDA import alert re China

- US regulations regarding US imports and IUU

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For More Information:

http://www.seafood.nmfs.noaa.gov