U.S. Implementation of EC IUU Regulation

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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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Top 2008 U.S. Seafood Export Destinations

• EU
• - Largest direct export destination
• - Significant secondary export destination
• - Potential to become even larger

Total Exports 4.3 Billion
Source 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
  vessels 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
38
68
5
1
19
112
24
6
2
10
14
5
10
2
1
2
6
18
1
16
1
77
8
3
2
4
6
7
5
11
49
6
53
10
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
SIP Catch Certificate www.seafood.noaa.gov
US - Caught
US Exporter
EU Importer
Annex IV Certificate Issued by China
SIP Issued Catch Certificate
(e.g., China)
Foreign Caught
US Importer
US Exporter
SIP Issued Annex IV Certificate
Foreign Government Catch Certificate
EU Importer
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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 weve 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

Thank you!