Brussels, 28/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - Following agreement with the European Parliament in June, the Council of Ministers of the European Union, in Luxembourg on Tuesday 29 June, will adopt a regulation establishing a catch documentation programme for bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus). The new rules will provide for a documentation system for each stage of the marketing chain (caging, harvest, import, export and re-export) to ensure total and reliable traceability for bluefin tuna and prevent illegal activities to as great an extent as possible. The regulation incorporates into Community law the conservation and management measures adopted last year by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).
“Any landing, transhipment, caging, harvest, domestic trade, import, export or re-export of bluefin tuna without a completed and validated catch document and, where applicable, a re-export certificate shall be prohibited,” the regulation states. Member states will be required to send an electronic version of all catch documents and validated re-export certificates to the European Commission and ICCAT. The documentation must be validated at all stages by the authorities of the flag or trap state and contain a wide range of information: - ICCAT bluefin tuna catch document number; - catch information (vessel name and number, date, area of catch and gear used, number and weight of fish); - trade information for live fish trade (product description, information on the exporter/seller, point of export or departure, export company name and address, farm name, transport details, information on the importer/buyer); - transfer information (description of the towing vessel, etc.); - transhipment information (carrier vessel description); - information on fattening; - information on harvesting; - trade information.
The regulation also contains the following provisions: - general requirement that caged fish be harvested in the year they were caught or before the start of the following tuna purse seining season (exceptions may be authorised); - ban on transhipment at sea (to prevent any cheating on the origin of the tuna). (L.C./transl.rt)