Article 20Flag State notifications and cooperation with third countries
1.The acceptance of catch certificates validated by a given flag State for the purposes of this Regulation shall be subject to the condition that the Commission has received a notification from the flag State concerned certifying that:
(a)it has in place national arrangements for the implementation, control and enforcement of laws, regulations and conservation and management measures which must be complied with by its fishing vessels;
(b)its public authorities are empowered to attest the veracity of the information contained in catch certificates and to carry out verifications of such certificates on request from the Member States. The notification shall also include the necessary information to identify those authorities.
2.The information to be given in the notification laid down in paragraph 1 is set forth in Annex III.
3.The Commission shall inform the flag State of the receipt of the notification sent pursuant to paragraph 1. If all elements mentioned in paragraph 1 are not provided by the flag State, the Commission shall indicate to the flag State which elements are missing and request that it provide a new notification.
4.The Commission shall, where appropriate, cooperate administratively with third countries in areas pertaining to the implementation of the catch certification provisions of this Regulation, including the use of electronic means to establish, validate or submit the catch certificates and, where appropriate, documents referred to in Article 14(1) and 14(2).
Such cooperation shall aim to:
(a)ensure that fishery products imported into the Community originate from catches made in compliance with applicable laws, regulations or conservation and management measures;
(b)facilitate the accomplishment by flag States of the formalities linked to the access to ports of fishing vessels, the importation of fishery products and the verification requirements of catch certificates established in Chapter II and this Chapter;
(c)provide for the conduct of on-the-spot audits by the Commission or a body designated by it to verify the effective implementation of the cooperation arrangement;
(d)provide for the establishment of a framework for the exchange of information between the two sides in support of the implementation of the cooperation arrangement.
5.The cooperation laid down in paragraph 4 shall not be construed as a precondition for the application of this Chapter to imports originating from catches made by fishing vessels flying the flag of any State.