Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008Show full title

SECTION 1 U.K. Conditions for access to port by third country fishing vessels

Article 4 U.K. Inspection in port schemes

1. With a view to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing, an effective scheme of inspections in port for third country fishing vessels calling at the ports of Member States shall be maintained.

2. Access to ports of Member States, the provision of port services, and the conduct of landing or transhipment operations in such ports shall be prohibited for third country fishing vessels unless they meet the requirements laid down in this Regulation, except in cases of force majeure or distress within the meaning of Article 18 of the Unclos (force majeure or distress) for services strictly necessary to remedy those situations.

3. Transhipments between third country fishing vessels or between the latter and fishing vessels flying the flag of a Member State shall be prohibited in Community waters and shall take place only in port, in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter.

4. Fishing vessels flying the flag of a Member State shall not be authorised to tranship at sea catches from third country fishing vessels outside Community waters unless the fishing vessels are registered as carrier vessels under the auspices of a regional fisheries management organisation.

Article 5 U.K. Designated ports

1. Member States shall designate ports, or places close to the shore, where landings or transhipment operations of fishery products and port services referred to in Article 4(2) are permitted.

2. Access to port services and the conduct of landing or transhipment operations by third country fishing vessels shall be authorised only in designated ports.

3. Member States shall transmit to the Commission no later than 15 January of each year a list of designated ports. Any subsequent changes to this list shall be notified to the Commission at least 15 days before the change takes effect.

4. The Commission shall, without delay, publish the list of designated ports in the Official Journal of the European Union and on its website.

Article 6 U.K. Prior notice

1. Masters of third country fishing vessels or their representatives shall notify the competent authorities of the Member State whose designated port or landing facilities they wish to use at least three working days before the estimated time of arrival at the port, of the following information:

(a) vessel identification;

(b) name of the designated port of destination and the purposes of the call, landing, transhipment or access to services;

(c) fishing authorisation or, where appropriate, authorisation to support fishing operations or to tranship fishery products;

(d) dates of the fishing trip;

(e) estimated date and time of arrival at port;

(f) the quantities of each species retained on board or, where appropriate, a negative report;

(g) the zone or zones where the catch was made or where transhipment took place, whether in Community waters, in zones under the jurisdiction or sovereignty of a third country or on the high seas;

(h) the quantities for each species to be landed or transhipped.

Masters of third country fishing vessels or their representatives shall be exempted from notifying information contained in points (a), (c), (d), (g) and (h), where a catch certificate has been validated in accordance with Chapter III for the full catch to be landed or transhipped in the territory of the Community.

2. The notification set out in paragraph 1 shall be accompanied by a catch certificate validated in accordance with Chapter III if the third country fishing vessel carries on board fishery products. The provisions laid down in Article 14 on the recognition of catch documents or port State control forms which are part of catch documentation or port State control schemes adopted by regional fisheries management organisations shall apply mutatis mutandis.

3. The Commission, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 54(2), may exempt certain categories of third country fishing vessels from the obligation stipulated in paragraph 1 for a limited and renewable period, or make provision for another notification period taking into account, inter alia, the type of fishery product, the distance between the fishing grounds, landing places and ports where the vessels in question are registered or listed.

4. This Article shall apply without prejudice to special provisions set forth in fisheries agreements concluded between the Community and third countries.

Article 7 U.K. Authorisation

1. Without prejudice to point 5 of Article 37, a third country fishing vessel shall be granted authorisation to access the port only if the information set out in Article 6(1) is complete and, if the third country vessel carries on board fishery products, is accompanied by the catch certificate referred to in Article 6(2).

2. Authorisation to commence landing or transhipment operations in port shall be subject to a check to determine the completeness of the information submitted as prescribed in paragraph 1 and, where appropriate, to an inspection carried out in accordance with Section 2.

3. By way of derogation to paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article the port Member State may authorise port access and all or part of a landing in cases where the information set out in Article 6(1) is not complete or its check or verification is pending, but shall, in such cases, keep the fishery products concerned in storage under the control of the competent authorities. The fishery products shall only be released to be sold, taken over or transported once the information set out in Article 6(1) has been received or the checking or verification process is completed. If this process is not completed within 14 days of the landing, the port Member State may confiscate and dispose of the fishery products in accordance with national rules. The cost of storage shall be borne by the operators.

Article 8 U.K. Recording of landing or transhipment operations

1. Masters of third country fishing vessels or their representative shall submit to the authorities of the Member State whose designated ports of landing or transhipment facilities they use, if possible by electronic means prior to landing or transhipment operations, a declaration indicating the quantity of fishery products by species to be landed or transhipped, and the date and place of each catch. Masters and their representatives shall be held responsible for the accuracy of such declarations.

2. Member States shall keep the originals of the declarations set out in paragraph 1, or a hard copy when transmitted electronically, for a period of three years or longer in accordance with national rules.

3. Landing and transhipment declaration procedures and forms shall be determined in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 54(2).

4. Member States shall notify the Commission by computer transmission before the end of the first month of each calendar quarter of the quantities landed and/or transhipped by third country fishing vessels in their ports during the previous quarter.