2011R0404 — EN — 07.05.2011 — 000.001

This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents





Corrected by:









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COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 404/2011

of 8 April 2011

laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy







THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Regulations (EC) No 847/96, (EC) No 2371/2002, (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 2115/2005, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007, (EC) No 676/2007, (EC) No 1098/2007, (EC) No 1300/2008, (EC) No 1342/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1627/94 and (EC) No 1966/2006 ( 1 ), and in particular Articles 6(5), 7(5), 8(1), 9(5), 14(10), 15(9), 16(2), 21(7), 22(7), 23(5), 24(8) and 25(2), Article 32, Articles 37(4), 40(6), 55(5), 58(9), 60(7), Article 61, and Articles 64(2), 72(5), 73(9), 74(6), 75(2), 76(4), 78(2), 79(7), 92(5), 103(8), 105(6), 106(4), 107(4), 111(3), 116(6), 117(4) and 118(5) thereof, Whereas: (1) Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 (hereafter referred to as ‘the Control Regulation’) provides for the adoption of detailed rules and measures to implement certain provisions it sets out. (2) With a view to ensuring a coherent application of these detailed rules the establishment of certain definitions is necessary. (3) Article 6(1) of the Control Regulation provides that a EU fishing vessel may only be used for the commercial exploitation of living aquatic resources if it has a valid fishing licence. Article 7(1) of the Control Regulation provides that an EU fishing vessel shall only be authorised to carry out specific fishing activities in so far as they are indicated in a valid fishing authorisation. It is appropriate to establish common rules for the issuance and management of such fishing licences and fishing authorisations to ensure a common standard of information contained therein. (4) Article 8(1) of the Control Regulation provides that a master of a fishing vessel has to respect conditions and restrictions relating to the marking and identification of fishing vessels and their gear. As such conditions and restrictions apply to EU waters it is necessary to establish them at the level of the European Union. (5) According to Article 9(1) of the Control Regulation, Member States shall operate a satellite-based Vessel Monitoring System for the effective monitoring of fishing activities of their fishing vessels wherever they may be and of fishing activities in their waters. It is appropriate to establish common specifications at the level of the European Union for such a system. Such specifications should set out in particular the characteristics of satellite tracking devices, details on the transmission of position data and rules in the case of a technical failure or non-functioning of satellite tracking devices. (6) Article 14(1) of the Control Regulation provides that masters of EU fishing vessels of 10 metres length overall or more have to keep a fishing logbook of their operations. It is necessary to determine the information that has to be recorded in the fishing logbooks and their format. (7) Article 14(7) of the Control Regulation provides that masters of EU fishing vessels have to use conversion factors established at EU level for converting stored or processed fish weight into live fish weight. It is therefore necessary to establish such conversion factors. (8) Article 15(1) of the Control Regulation provides that masters of EU fishing vessels of 12 metres length overall or more have to record logbook information by electronic means. It is appropriate to establish the requirements for the electronic completion and transmission of this information and to specify their format. (9) Articles 21(1) and 23(1) of the Control Regulation provide that masters of EU fishing vessels of 10 metres length overall and more have to complete and submit transhipment and landing declarations. It is appropriate to determine the information that has to be contained in these declarations and to specify the details of their submission. (10) Articles 22(1) and 24(1) of the Control Regulation provides for the electronic completion and transmission of transhipment and landing declarations by electronic means. It is appropriate to establish the requirements for the electronic completion and transmission of these data and to specify their format. (11) Articles 16(1) and 25(1) of the Control Regulation provide that every Member State has to monitor on the basis of sampling the activities of fishing vessels which are not subject to logbook requirements and landing declarations. With a view to ensure common standards of such samplings detailed rules, should be established at the level of the European Union. (12) Article 37 of the Control Regulation provides that necessary corrective actions are to be taken by the Commission in case the Commission has prohibited fishing because of the alleged exhaustion of the fishing opportunities available to a Member State or group of Member States, or to the European Union and it transpires that a Member State has not in fact exhausted its fishing opportunities. It is necessary to adopt adequate rules for the reallocation of such fishing opportunities, which take into account situations where a total allowable catch (TAC) for the EU is available or not, or where due to the annual setting of fishing opportunities circumstances do not permit such reallocation. (13) Articles 39 to 41 of the Control Regulation foresee rules to ensure that the engine power of fishing vessels is not exceeded. It is necessary to establish the technical rules of the relevant certifications and verifications to be done in this field. (14) Article 55 of the Control Regulation provides that Member States should ensure that recreational fisheries are conducted in a manner compatible with the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy. For stocks under a recovery plan Member States should collect catch data of recreational fisheries. Where such fisheries have a significant impact on the resources, specific management measures may be decided by the Council. It is appropriate to lay down detailed rules for the establishment of sampling plans in order to allow Member States to monitor the catches of stocks subject to recovery plans by recreational fisheries practised from their vessels, in waters subject to their sovereignty or jurisdiction. (15) In order to establish a comprehensive control regime the whole chain of production and marketing should be covered by such a regime. Article 58 of the Control Regulation provides for a coherent traceability system to ensure that all lots of fisheries and aquaculture products are traceable at all stages of production, processing and distribution, from catching or harvesting to the retail stage. It is necessary to lay down common rules for identification procedures of the product concerned. (16) Article 60 of the Control Regulation provides that all fishery products are to be weighed on systems approved by the competent authorities unless they have adopted a sampling plan approved by the Commission. It is necessary to establish common rules in all Member States for the weighing of fresh and frozen fisheries products, as well as for the weighing of transhipped fisheries products, and for the weighing of fisheries products after transport from the place of landing. (17) Article 61 of the Control Regulation provides for the possibility for fisheries products to be weighed after transport under the condition that the Member State has adopted a control plan or, when the fisheries products are transported to another Member State, that the Member States concerned have adopted a common control programme that are approved by the Commission and based on a risk-based methodology adopted by the Commission. This risk-based methodology needs to be defined. (18) The fishery on herring, mackerel and horse mackerel has some specific features. For this reason it is appropriate to establish special rules on weighing and related elements to take account of these specific features. (19) Article 64 of the Control Regulation foresees that the detailed rules on the content of sales notes are to be adopted. It is pertinent to include such rules in this Regulation. (20) Articles 71 and 72 of the Control Regulation provide that Member States shall carry out surveillance in EU waters and take the necessary measures if a sighting does not correspond to the information available to them. It is necessary to lay down common rules regarding the content of a surveillance report, and its means of transmission. (21) Article 73 of the Control Regulation provides the possibility for the Council to establish control observer schemes and establishes in general lines the profile and tasks of control observers on board fishing vessels. Therefore detailed rules on the deployment and duties of control observers should be drawn up. (22) According to Chapter I of Title VII of the Control Regulation, rules are to be established for the conduct of inspections in order to enhance a standardised approach to control activities carried out by Member States. Rules should be laid down for the conduct of officials in charge of inspections, and the obligations of Member States regarding the behaviour of their officials authorised to conduct such inspections. At the same time, the duties of operators during inspection should be clarified. It is also necessary to lay down common principles for inspection procedures at sea, in port, during transport, at market places, and regarding inspection reports and their transmission. (23) Article 79 of the Control Regulation provides that Union inspectors may carry out inspections in EU waters and on EU fishing vessels outside EU waters. It is appropriate to draw up rules regarding the nomination of Union inspectors, their tasks and obligations, as well as the type of follow up to be given to their report. (24) Article 92 of the Control Regulation provides for the establishment of a point system for serious infringements with the aim to ensure compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy and a level playing field in all EU waters. For this to be achieved, it is necessary to establish common rules at the level of the European Union for the application of such a point system, including a list of points to be attributed for each serious infringement. (25) In accordance with Article 5(6) and Article 103 of the Control Regulation, the financial assistance in the framework of Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 of 27 July 2006 on the European Fisheries Fund ( 2 ) and Council Regulation (EC) No 861/2006 of 22 May 2006 establishing Community financial measures for the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy and in the area of the Law of the Sea ( 3 ) is made conditional upon compliance by Member States with their obligations in the fields of fisheries conservation and control, the Commission having the possibility under certain conditions to suspend and cancel such financial assistance. It is necessary to lay down detailed rules for the application of these measures. (26) Article 107 of the Control Regulation provides for deduction of quotas by the Commission in cases of failure by Member States to comply with the rules on stocks subject to multiannual plans which leads to a serious threat to the conservation of such stocks. Rules should therefore be drawn up regarding the extent of the deduction, taking into account the nature of the non-compliance, the extent of its impact, as well as the gravity of the threat to the resource. (27) Chapter I of Title XII of the Control Regulation establishes rules on the handling of data recorded for the purpose of that Regulation, including the obligation for the Member States to set up a computerised database and a validation system and the provisions on accessing and exchanging such data. It is necessary to lay down common rules establishing procedures to process such data and to ensure access to it by the Commission and specifying the requirements for the exchange of data. (28) Article 110 of the Control Regulation deals with the remote access of the Commission or the body designated by it to computer files containing the data recorded by fisheries monitoring centres of Member States. In order to ensure such an access it is pertinent to establish clear rules on the conditions and the procedures that should be respected. (29) Articles 114 to 116 of the Control Regulation provide that the Member States have to establish official websites. With a view to ensure their equal accessibility in all Member States it is pertinent to establish rules at EU level on these websites. (30) According to Article 117 of the Control Regulation a system of mutual assistance shall be established for ensuring the administrative cooperation among Member States and the Commission. Such administrative cooperation is essential to ensure that a level playing field in the EU is established and that illegal activities are properly investigated and sanctioned. Rules should therefore be drawn up for a systematic exchange of information either on request or spontaneously, and for the possibility to request enforcement measures and administrative notification by another Member State. (31) The protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Member States is governed by Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data ( 4 ). The protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Commission is governed by Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data ( 5 ), in particular as regards the requirements of confidentiality and security of processing, the transfer of personal data from the national systems of Member States to the Commission, the lawfulness of processing, and the rights of data subjects to information, access to and rectification of their personal data. (32) To facilitate the implementation of the fisheries control system, detailed rules should be concentrated in one single Regulation. The following Commission Regulations should therefore be repealed: — Regulation (EEC) No 2807/83 ( 6 ) laying down detailed rules for recording information on Member States’ catches of fish, — Regulation (EEC) No 3561/85 ( 7 ) concerning information about inspections of fishing activities carried out by national control authorities, — Regulation (EEC) No 493/87 ( 8 ) establishing detailed rules for remedying the prejudice caused on the halting of certain fisheries, — Regulation (EEC) No 1381/87 ( 9 ) establishing detailed rules concerning the marking and documentation of fishing vessels, — Regulation (EEC) No 1382/87 ( 10 ) establishing detailed rules concerning the inspection of fishing vessels, — Regulation (EC) No 2943/95 ( 11 ) setting out detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 1627/94 laying down general provisions concerning special fishing permits, — Regulation (EC) No 1449/98 ( 12 ) laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 as regards effort reports, — Regulation (EC) No 356/2005 ( 13 ) laying down detailed rules for the marking and identification of passive fishing gear and beam trawls, — Regulation (EC) No 2244/2003 ( 14 ) laying down detailed provisions regarding satellite-based Vessel Monitoring Systems, — Regulation (EC) No 1281/2005 ( 15 ) of the management of fishing licences and the minimal information to be contained therein, — Regulation (EC) No 1042/2006 ( 16 ) laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Article 28(3) and (4) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2371/2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy, — Regulation (EC) No 1542/2007 ( 17 ) on landing and weighing procedures for herring, mackerel and horse mackerel, — Regulation (EC) No 1077/2008 ( 18 ) laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1966/2006 on electronic recording and reporting of fishing activities and on means of remote sensing and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1566/2007, and — Regulation (EC) No 409/2009 ( 19 ) establishing Community conversion factors and presentation codes used to convert fish processed weight into fish weight, and amending Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2807/83. (33) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Whereas: HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION







TITLE I







GENERAL PROVISIONS

SCOPE

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation lays down detailed rules for the application of the control system of the European Union as established by the Control Regulation.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:

(1) ‘EU fishing vessel’ means a vessel defined in Article 3(d) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 ( 20 );

(2) ‘EU waters’ means waters defined in Article 3(a) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002;

(3) ‘holder of a fishing licence’ means a natural or legal person to whom a fishing licence as referred to Article 6 of the Control Regulation has been issued;

(4) ‘Union inspectors’ means inspectors as defined in Article 4(7) of the Control Regulation;

(5) ‘fish aggregating device’ means any equipment floating on the sea surface or anchored with the objective of attracting fish;

(6) ‘passive gear’ means any fishing gear the catch operation of which does not require an active movement of the gear, including: (a) gillnets, entangling nets, trammel nets, and trap nets; (b) drifting gillnets, and drifting trammel nets, any of which may be equipped with anchoring, floating and navigational gear; (c) long lines, lines, pots and traps;

(7) ‘beam trawl’ means any towed trawl in which the mouth of the trawl is held open by a beam or similar device, irrespectively of whether they are supported or not when dragged along the seabed;

(8) ‘vessel monitoring system’ (VMS) as referred to in Article 9(1) of the Control Regulation means a satellite-based fishing vessel monitoring system providing to the fisheries authorities data at regular intervals on the location, course and speed of vessels;

(9) ‘satellite-tracking device’ as referred to in Article 4(12) of the Control Regulation means a device installed on board of a fishing vessel that transmits position and related data automatically to the fisheries monitoring centre according to the legal requirements and that allows detection and identification of the fishing vessel at all times;

(10) ‘fishing trip’ means any voyage of a fishing vessel during which fishing activities are conducted that starts at the moment when the fishing vessel leaves a port and ends on arrival in port;

(11) ‘fishing operation’ means all activities in connection with searching for fish, the shooting, towing and hauling of active gears, setting, soaking, removing or resetting of passive gears and the removal of any catch from the gear, keep nets, or from a transport cage to fattening and farming cages;

(12) ‘electronic fishing logbook’ means the record by computerised means of fishing operation details by the master of a fishing vessel transmitted to the Member State authorities;

(13) ‘product presentation’ means a description of the processed state of the fisheries product or part thereof in accordance with the codes and descriptions in Annex I;

(14) ‘European Fisheries Control Agency’ means the agency as defined in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 768/2005 ( 21 );

(15) ‘sighting’ means any observation of a fishing vessel by any competent authority of a Member State;

(16) ‘commercially sensitive information’ means information the release of which is likely to prejudice the commercial interests of an operator;

(17) ‘computerised validation system’ means a system capable of verifying that all data recorded in Member States databases is accurate, complete and submitted within the deadlines;

(18) ‘web service’ means a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network.







TITLE II

GENERAL CONDITIONS FOR ACCESS TO WATERS AND RESOURCES







CHAPTER I

Fishing licenses

Article 3

Issue and management of fishing licences

1. A fishing licence referred to in Article 6 of the Control Regulation shall be valid for one EU fishing vessel only.

2. Fishing licences referred to in Article 6 of the Control Regulation shall be issued, managed and withdrawn by Member States for their fishing vessels in accordance with this Regulation.

3. Fishing licences referred to in Article 6 of the Control Regulation shall contain as a minimum the information set out in Annex II.

4. Fishing licences issued in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1281/2005 shall be considered as fishing licences issued in accordance with this Regulation if they contain the minimum information required by paragraph 3 of this Article.

5. A fishing licence shall only be valid if the conditions on the basis of which it has been issued are still met.

6. If a fishing licence has been temporarily suspended or permanently withdrawn, the authorities of the flag Member State shall immediately inform the holder of the fishing licence.

7. At any moment the total capacity corresponding to the fishing licences issued by a Member State, in GT or kW, shall not be higher than the maximum capacity levels for that Member State established in accordance with Articles 12 and 13 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002, and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1438/2003 ( 22 ), Council Regulation (EC) No 639/2004 ( 23 ), and Commission Regulation (EC) No 2104/2004 ( 24 ).







CHAPTER II

Fishing authorisations

Article 4

Fishing authorisations

1. A fishing authorisation referred to in Article 7 of the Control Regulation shall be valid for one EU fishing vessel only.

2. Fishing authorisations referred to in Article 7 of the Control Regulation shall contain as a minimum the information set out in Annex III. The flag Member State shall ensure that the information contained in the fishing authorisation is accurate and consistent with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy.

3. Special fishing permits issued in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1627/94 ( 25 ) shall be considered as fishing authorisations issued in accordance with this Regulation if they contain the minimum information required by paragraph 2 of this Article.

4. A fishing authorisation as referred to in paragraph 2 and a fishing licence as referred to in Article 3(2) of this Regulation may be contained in the same document.

5. Without prejudice to special rules EU fishing vessels of less than 10 metres’ length overall which fish exclusively in the territorial waters of their flag Member States shall be excluded from the obligation to a have a fishing authorisation.

6. Paragraph 2 and paragraph 5 of Article 3 of this Regulation shall apply correspondingly.

Article 5

List of fishing authorisations

1. Without prejudice to special rules, when the websites as referred to in Article 114 of the Control Regulation have become operational and not later than 1 January 2012 Member States shall make available on the secure part of their official websites the list of their fishing vessels that have received fishing authorisations referred to in Article 7 of the Control Regulation before these fishing authorisations become valid. They shall update their list in case of any changes to this list before they become effective.

2. For the period 1 January 2011 until 31 December 2011, on request Member States shall make available to the Commission a list of their fishing vessels that have received fishing authorisations for 2011. They shall inform the Commission of any changes to this list before these changes become effective.







CHAPTER III

Marking and identification of EU fishing vessels and their gear







Section 1

Marking and identification of fishing vessels

Article 6

Marking of fishing vessels

An EU fishing vessel shall be marked as follows:

(a) the letter(s) of the port or district in which the EU fishing vessel is registered and the number(s) under which it is registered shall be painted or displayed on both sides of the bow, as high above the water as possible so as to be clearly visible from the sea and the air, in a colour contrasting with the background on which they are painted;

(b) for EU fishing vessels over 10 metres length overall and less than 17 metres length overall, the height of the letters and numbers shall be at least 25 centimetres with a line thickness of at least 4 centimetres. For EU fishing vessels of 17 metres length overall or more, the height of the letters and numbers shall be at least 45 centimetres, with a line thickness of at least 6 centimetres;

(c) the flag Member State may require the international radio call sign (IRCS) or the external registration letters and numbers to be painted on top of the wheelhouse, so as to be clearly visible from the air, in a colour contrasting with the ground on which it is painted;

(d) the contrasting colours shall be white and black;

(e) the external registration letters and numbers painted or displayed on the hull of the EU fishing vessel shall not be removable, effaced, altered, illegible, covered or concealed.

Article 7

Documents carried on board an EU fishing vessel

1. The master of a EU fishing vessel of 10 metres length overall or more shall carry on board documents, issued by a competent authority of the Member State in which it is registered, showing at least the following elements of the vessel:

(a) the name if any;

(b) the letters of the port or district in which it is registered, and the number(s) under which it is registered;

(c) the international radio call sign, if any;

(d) the names and addresses of the owner(s) and, where applicable, the charterer(s);

(e) the length overall, propulsion engine power, gross tonnage and, for EU fishing vessels which entered into service from 1 January 1987 onwards, date of entry into service.

2. On EU fishing vessels of 17 metres length overall or more with fish rooms the master shall keep on board accurate drawings with description of its fish rooms, including the indication of all access points and of their storage capacity in cubic metres.

3. The master of an EU vessel with chilled or refrigerated seawater tanks shall keep on board an up-to-date document indicating the calibration of the tanks in cubic metres at 10 centimetre intervals.

4. The documents referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be certified by the competent authority of the flag Member State. Any modification of the characteristics contained in the documents referred to in paragraphs 1 to 3, shall be certified by a competent authority of the flag Member State.

5. The documents referred to in this Article shall be presented for the purposes of control and inspection at the request of the officials.







Section 2

Marking and identification of fishing gear and crafts

Article 8

Marking of crafts and fish aggregating devices

Any craft carried on board EU fishing vessels and fish aggregating devices shall be marked with external registration letters and numbers of the EU fishing vessel(s) which use them.

Article 9

General rules for passive gear and beam trawls

1. The provisions contained in Articles 9 to 12 of this Regulation shall apply to EU fishing vessels fishing in all EU waters and the provisions contained in Articles 13 to 17 of this Regulation to EU waters outside 12 nautical miles measured from the base lines of the coastal Member States.

2. It shall be prohibited in EU waters as set down in paragraph 1 to carry out fishing activities with passive gear, buoys, and beam trawls, which are not marked and identifiable in accordance with the provisions of Articles 10 to 17 of this Regulation.

3. It shall be prohibited in EU waters as set down in paragraph 1 to carry on board:

(a) beams of a beam trawl which do not display the external registration letters and numbers in accordance with Article 10 of this Regulation;

(b) passive gear which is not labelled in accordance with Article 11(2) of this Regulation;

(c) buoys which are not marked in accordance with Article 13(2) of this Regulation.

Article 10

Rules for beam trawls

The master of an EU fishing vessel or his representative shall ensure that each assembled beam trawl carried on board or used for fishing clearly displays the external registration letters and numbers of that fishing vessel on the beam of each beam trawl assembly.

Article 11

Rules for passive gear

1. The master of an EU fishing vessel or his representative shall ensure that each passive gear carried on board or used for fishing is clearly marked and identifiable in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

2. Each passive gear used for fishing shall permanently display the external registration letters and numbers displayed on the hull of the fishing vessel to which it belongs:

(a) for nets, on a label attached to the upper first row;

(b) for lines and long lines, on a label at the point of contact with the mooring buoy;

(c) for pots and traps, on a label attached to the ground rope;

(d) for passive gear extending more than 1 nautical mile, on labels attached in accordance with (a), (b) and (c) at regular intervals not exceeding 1 nautical mile so that no part of the passive gear extending more than 1 nautical mile shall be left unmarked.

Article 12

Rules for labels

1. Each label shall be:

(a) made of durable material;

(b) securely fitted to the gear;

(c) at least 65 millimetres broad;

(d) at least 75 millimetres long.

2. The label shall not be removable, effaced, altered, illegible, covered or concealed.

Article 13

Rules for buoys

1. The master of a EU fishing vessel or his representative shall ensure that two end marker buoys and intermediary marker buoys, rigged in accordance with Annex IV, are fixed to each passive gear used for fishing and are deployed in accordance with the provisions of this Section.

2. Each end marker buoy and intermediary buoy shall display the external registration letters and numbers displayed on the hull of the EU fishing vessel to which they belong and which has deployed such buoys as follows:

(a) letters and numbers shall be displayed as high above the water as possible so as to be clearly visible;

(b) in a colour contrasting with the surface on which they are displayed.

3. The letters and numbers displayed on the marker buoy shall not be effaced, altered or allowed to become illegible.

Article 14

Rules for cords

1. The cords linking the buoys to the passive gear shall be of submersible material, or shall be weighted down.

2. The cords linking the end marker buoys to each gear shall be fixed at the ends of that gear.

Article 15

Rules for end marker buoys

1. End marker buoys shall be deployed so that each end of the gear may be determined at any time.

2. The mast of each end marker buoy shall have a height of at least 1 metre above the sea level measured from the top of the float to the lower edge of the bottom most flag.

3. End marker buoys shall be coloured, but may not be red or green.

4. Each end marker buoy shall include:

(a) one or two rectangular flag(s); where two flags are required on the same buoy, the distance between them shall be at least 20 centimetres flags indicating the extremities of the same gear shall be of the same colour and may not be white and shall be of the same size;

(b) one or two light(s), which shall be yellow and give one flash each 5 seconds (F1 Y 5s), and be visible from a minimum distance of 2 nautical miles.

5. Each end marker buoy may include a top sign on the top of the buoy with one or two striped luminous bands which shall be neither red nor green and shall be at least 6 centimetres broad.

Article 16

Rules for fixing of end marker buoys

1. End marker buoys shall be fixed to passive gear in the following way:

(a) the buoy in the western sector (meaning the half compass circle from south through west to and including north) shall be rigged with two flags, two striped luminous bands, two lights and a label in accordance with Article 12 of this Regulation;

(b) the buoy in the eastern sector (meaning the half compass circle from north through east to and including the south) shall be rigged with one flag one striped luminous band, one light and a label in accordance with Article 12 of this Regulation.

2. The label shall contain the information contained in Article 13(2) of this Regulation.

Article 17

Intermediary marker buoys

1. Intermediary marker buoys shall be fixed to passive gear extending more than 5 nautical miles as follows:

(a) intermediary marker buoys shall be deployed at distances of not more than 5 nautical miles so that no part of the gear extending 5 nautical miles or more shall be left unmarked;

(b) intermediary marker buoys shall be fitted with a flashing light which shall be yellow and give one flash every 5 seconds (F1 Y 5s) and be visible from a minimum distance of 2 nautical miles. They shall have the same characteristics as those of the end marker buoy in the eastern sector, except that the flag shall be white.

2. By derogation from paragraph 1, in the Baltic Sea intermediary marker buoys shall be fixed to passive gear extending more than 1 nautical mile. Intermediary marker buoys shall be deployed at distances of not more than 1 nautical mile so that no part of the gear extending 1 nautical mile or more shall be left unmarked.

Intermediary marker buoys shall have the same characteristics as those of the end marker buoy in the eastern sector except for the following:

(a) the flags shall be white;

(b) every fifth intermediary marker buoys shall be fitted with a radar reflector giving an echo of at least 2 nautical miles.







CHAPTER IV

Vessel monitoring system

Article 18

Requirement of satellite-tracking devices on EU fishing vessels

1. Without prejudice to Article 25(3) of this Regulation an EU fishing vessel subject to VMS shall not be allowed to leave a port without a fully operational satellite-tracking device installed on board.

2. When an EU fishing vessel is in port, the satellite-tracking device may only be switched off if:

(a) prior notification has been given to the fisheries monitoring centre (FMC) of the flag Member State and the FMC of the coastal Member State; and

(b) providing that the next report shows that the EU fishing vessel has not changed its position in relation to the previous report.

The competent authorities of the flag Member State may allow to replace the prior notification referred to in (a) with an automatic VMS message or alarm generated by the system, indicating that the EU fishing vessel is within a pre-defined geographical area of a port.

3. This Chapter shall not apply to EU fishing vessels used exclusively for the exploitation of aquaculture.

Article 19

Characteristics of satellite-tracking devices

1. The satellite-tracking device installed on board EU fishing vessels shall ensure the automatic transmission to the FMC of the flag Member State, at regular intervals, of data relating to:

(a) the fishing vessel identification;

(b) the most recent geographical position of the fishing vessel, with a position error which shall be less than 500 metres, with a confidence interval of 99 %;

(c) the date and time (expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)) of the fixing of the said position of the fishing vessel; and

(d) the instant speed and course of the fishing vessel.

2. Member States shall ensure that satellite-tracking devices are protected against input or output of false positions and cannot be manually over-ridden.

Article 20

Responsibilities of the masters concerning the satellite-tracking devices

1. The masters of an EU fishing vessel shall ensure that the satellite-tracking devices are fully operational at all times and that the data referred to in Article 19(1) of this Regulation are transmitted.

2. Without prejudice to Article 26(1) of this Regulation, the master of an EU fishing vessel shall ensure in particular that:

(a) the data are not altered in any way;

(b) the antenna or the antennas connected to the satellite tracking devices are not obstructed, disconnected or blocked in any way;

(c) the power supply of the satellite-tracking devices is not interrupted in any way; and

(d) the satellite-tracking device is not removed from the fishing vessel.

3. It shall be prohibited to destroy, damage, render inoperative or otherwise interfere with the satellite-tracking device unless the competent authorities of the flag Member State have authorised its repair or replacement.

Article 21

Control measures to be adopted by flag Member States

Each flag Member State shall ensure the continuous and systematic monitoring and control of the accuracy of the data referred to in Article 19 of this Regulation, and shall act promptly whenever data are found to be inaccurate or incomplete.

Article 22

Frequency of data transmission

1. Each Member State shall ensure that its FMC receives, at least once every 2 hours, through the VMS the information referred to in Article 19 of this Regulation concerning its fishing vessels. The FMC may require the information at shorter time intervals.

2. The FMC shall have the capacity of polling the actual position of each of its fishing vessel.

Article 23

Monitoring of entry into and exit from specific areas

Each Member State shall ensure that through VMS data its FMC monitors, as regards its fishing vessels, date and time of entry into and exit from:

(a) any maritime area where specific rules on access to waters and resources apply;

(b) fishing restricted areas referred to in Article 50 of the Control Regulation;

(c) regulatory areas of the Regional Fisheries Management Organisations to which the European Union or certain Member States are a party;

(d) waters under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of a third country.

Article 24

Transmission of data to the coastal Member State

1. The VMS established by each Member State shall ensure the automatic transmission to the FMC of a coastal Member State of the data to be provided in accordance with Article 19 of this Regulation concerning its fishing vessels during the time they are in the waters of the coastal Member State. That data transmission shall be simultaneous with the receipt at the FMC of the flag Member State and shall be in accordance with the format set out in Annex V.

2. Coastal Member States monitoring jointly an area may specify a common destination for the transmission of the data to be provided in accordance with Article 19 of this Regulation. They shall inform the Commission and the other Member States thereof.

3. Each Member State shall transmit to the other Member States and the Commission in a, where possible electronic, format compatible with the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS 84) a comprehensive list of the latitude and longitude coordinates which delineate its exclusive economic zone or exclusive fishery zone. It shall also communicate to the other Member States and the Commission any changes of these coordinates. Alternatively Member States may publish this list on the website referred to in Article 115 of the Control Regulation.

4. Member States shall ensure effective coordination between their competent authorities regarding the transmission of VMS data in accordance with Article 9(3) of the Control Regulation, including through the establishment of clear and documented procedures for this purpose.

Article 25

Technical failure or non-functioning of the satellite-tracking device

1. In the event of a technical failure or non-functioning of the satellite-tracking device fitted on board a EU fishing vessel, the master or his representative shall, starting from the time that the event was detected or from the time that he was informed in accordance with paragraph 4 or Article 26(1) of this Regulation, communicate every 4 hours, to the FMC of the flag Member State the up-to-date geographical coordinates of the fishing vessel by appropriate telecommunication means. Member States shall decide on the telecommunication means to be used and indicate them on the website referred to in Article 115 of the Control Regulation.

2. The FMC of the flag Member State shall enter the geographical positions referred to in paragraph 1 into the VMS database without delay on their receipt. The manual VMS data shall be clearly distinguishable in a database from automatic messages. Where appropriate, those manual VMS data shall be transmitted without delay to coastal Member States.

3. Following a technical failure or non-functioning of the satellite-tracking device, an EU fishing vessel may only leave port once the satellite-tracking device fitted on board is fully functioning to the satisfaction of the competent authorities of the flag state. By derogation the FMC of the flag Member State may authorise its fishing vessels to leave the port with a non-functioning satellite-tracking device for its repair or replacement.

4. The competent authorities of the flag Member State or, where appropriate, of the coastal Member State shall seek to inform the master of or the person responsible for the vessel or their representative when the satellite-tracking device fitted on board a EU fishing vessel appears to be defective or not fully functioning.

5. The removal of the satellite-tracking device for repair or replacement shall be subject to the approval of the competent authorities of the flag Member State.

Article 26

Non-receipt of data

1. When the FMC of a flag Member State has not received data transmissions in accordance with Article 22 or Article 25(1) of this Regulation for 12 consecutive hours it shall notify the master or the operator of the EU fishing vessel or their representative(s) thereof as soon as possible. If, in respect of an EU particular fishing vessel, that situation occurs more than three times within a period of a calendar year, the flag Member State shall ensure that the satellite-tracking device of the fishing vessel is thoroughly checked. The flag Member State shall investigate the matter in order to establish whether the equipment has been tampered with. By way of derogation from Article 20(2)(d) of this Regulation, that investigation may entail the removal of such equipment for examination.

2. When the FMC of a flag Member State has not received data transmissions for 12 hours in accordance with Article 22 or Article 25(1) of this Regulation and the last received position was from within the waters of another Member State it shall notify the FMC of that coastal Member State thereof as soon as possible.

3. When the competent authorities of a coastal Member State observe an EU fishing vessel in its waters and have not received data in accordance with Article 24(1) or 25(2) of this Regulation, they shall notify the master of the fishing vessel and the FMC of the flag Member State thereof.

Article 27

Monitoring and recording of the fishing activities

1. Member States shall use the data received pursuant to Article 22, Article 24(1) and Article 25 of this Regulation for the effective monitoring of the activities of fishing vessels.

2. Flag Member States shall:

(a) ensure that data received according to this Chapter are recorded in computer-readable form and safely stored in computerised databases for at least 3 years;

(b) take all necessary measures to ensure that they are only used for official purposes; and

(c) take all necessary technical measures to protect such data against any accidental or illicit destruction, accidental loss, deterioration, distribution or unauthorised consultation.

Article 28

Access to data by the Commission

The Commission may request Member States in accordance with Article 111(1)(a) of the Control Regulation to ensure the automatic transmission to the Commission or to the body designated by it, of the data to be provided in accordance with Article 19 of this Regulation concerning a specific group of fishing vessels and during a specific time. That data transmission shall be simultaneous with receipt at the FMC of the flag Member State and shall be in accordance with the format set out in Annex V.







TITLE III

CONTROL OF FISHERIES







CHAPTER I

Fishing logbook, transhipment declaration and landing declaration in paper format







Section 1

Completion and submission of a fishing logbook, landing declaration and transhipment declaration in paper format

Article 29

EU fishing vessels subject to the completion and submission of a fishing logbook and transhipment/landing declaration in paper format

1. Without prejudice to specific provisions contained in multi-annual plans, the master of a EU fishing vessel of 10 metres length overall or more that is not subject to the electronic completion and transmission of fishing logbook data, transhipment declarations and landing declarations, shall complete and submit the fishing logbook data, transhipment declarations and landing declarations referred to in Articles 14, 21 and 23 of the Control Regulation in paper format. These transhipment declarations and landing declarations may also be completed and submitted by the representative of the master on his behalf.

2. The requirement to complete and submit the fishing logbook data, transhipment declarations and landing declarations in paper format shall also apply to EU fishing vessels whose length overall is less than 10 metres when they are required by their flag Member State to keep a fishing logbook and submit transhipment and/or landing declarations in accordance with Articles 16(3) and 25(3) of the Control Regulation.

Article 30

Models for fishing logbooks, transhipment declarations and landing declarations in paper format

1. For all fishing areas, except NAFO sub area 1 and ICES divisions V(a) and XIV, the fishing logbook, transhipment declaration and landing declaration in paper format shall be completed and submitted by masters of EU fishing vessels in accordance with the model shown in Annex VI. However, the model shown in Annex VII may be used for fisheries operations carried out exclusively in the Mediterranean by masters of EU fishing vessels which are not subject to the obligation to transmit fishing logbook, transhipment declaration and landing declaration data electronically, and which make daily fishing trips in a single fishing zone.

2. For NAFO sub area 1 and ICES divisions V(a) and XIV, the format shown in Annex VIII shall be used for the paper fishing logbook and the format shown in Annex IX for paper transhipment declarations and landing declarations.

3. The fishing logbook, transhipment declaration and landing declaration in paper format shown in Annexes VI and VII shall also be kept in accordance with paragraph 1 and Article 31 of this Regulation when such EU fishing vessels are carrying out fishing activities in the waters of a third country, in waters regulated by a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation or in waters outside EU waters not regulated by a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation, unless the third country or the rules of the Regional Fisheries Management Organisation concerned specifically require a different kind of fishing logbook, transhipment declaration or landing declaration to be completed and submitted. If the third country does not specify a particular fishing logbook, but does require data elements different from those required by the European Union, such data elements shall be recorded.

4. Member States may continue to use paper fishing logbook formats in conformity with Regulation (EEC) No 2807/83 for EU fishing vessels not subject to the electronic completion and transmission of fishing logbook data in accordance with Article 15 of the Control Regulation until stocks of paper fishing logbook formats have been used up.

Article 31

Instructions for the completion and submission of fishing logbooks, transhipment declarations and landing declarations in paper format

1. The fishing logbook, transhipment declaration and landing declaration in paper format shall be completed and submitted in accordance with the instructions set out in Annex X.

2. Where the instructions set out in Annex X state that the application of a rule is optional, the flag Member State may make it mandatory.

3. All entries in the fishing logbook, transhipment declaration or landing declaration shall be legible and indelible. No entry shall be erased or altered. If a mistake is made the incorrect entry shall be crossed out with a single line and the new correct entry shall be written and initialled by the master. Each line shall be initialled by the master.

4. The master of the EU fishing vessel or, for transhipment declarations and landing declarations, his representative shall certify with his initials or signature that the entries in the fishing logbook, transhipment declaration and landing declaration are correct.

Article 32

Deadlines for the submission of a fishing logbook, transhipment declaration and a landing declaration in paper format

1. When a EU fishing vessel has made a landing in a port or a transhipment in a port or in a place close to the shore of its flag Member State, its master shall submit the original(s) of the fishing logbook, transhipment declaration and landing declaration as soon as possible and not later than 48 hours after completion of transhipment or landing to the competent authorities of the Member State concerned. The original(s) of such a transhipment declaration and landing declaration may also be submitted by the representative of the master on his behalf.

2. When no catches are landed after a fishing trip, the master shall submit the original(s) of the fishing logbook and transhipment declaration as soon as possible and not later than 48 hours after arrival in port. The original(s) of such a transhipment declaration may also be submitted by the representative of the master on his behalf.

3. When a EU fishing vessel has made a transhipment in a port or in a place close to the shore or a landing in a port of a Member State other than its flag Member State, it shall submit the first copy (copies) of the fishing logbook, transhipment declaration and landing declaration as soon as possible and not later than 48 hours after transhipment or landing to the competent authorities of the Member State in which the transhipment or landing takes place. The original(s) of the fishing logbook, transhipment declaration and landing declaration shall be dispatched as soon as possible and not later than 48 hours after transhipment or landing to the competent authorities of the flag Member State.

4. When a EU fishing vessel has made a transhipment in a port or in the waters of a third country or on the high seas or a landing in a port of a third country, it shall dispatch the original(s) of the fishing logbook, transhipment declaration and landing declaration as soon as possible and not later than 48 hours after the transhipment or landing to the competent authorities of the flag Member State.

5. When a third country or the rules of a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation require a different kind of fishing logbook, transhipment declaration or landing declaration from the one in Annex VI the master of the EU fishing vessel shall submit a copy of that document to his competent authorities as soon as possible and not later than 48 hours after transhipment or landing.







Section 2

Specific rules for the fishing logbook in paper format

Article 33

Completion of fishing logbook in paper format

1. The paper fishing logbook shall be completed with all obligatory information even when there are no catches:

(a) daily by not later than 24.00 and before entering the port;

(b) at the time of any inspection at sea;

(c) at the time of events defined in the Community legislation or by the flag Member State.

2. A new line in the paper fishing logbook shall be filled in:

(a) for each day at sea;

(b) when fishing in a new ICES Division or another fishing zone the same day;

(c) when entering fishing effort data.

3. A new page in the paper fishing logbook shall be filled in:

(a) when using different gear, or a net of a different mesh size range, to that of the previous gear used;

(b) for any fishing done after a transhipment or an intermediate landing;

(c) if the number of columns is insufficient;

(d) on departure from a port when no landing has taken place.

4. On departure from a port, or following completion of a transhipment operation, and when catches remain on board, the quantities of each species shall be indicated on a new fishing logbook page.

5. The codes given in Annex XI shall apply to indicate, under the appropriate headings of the paper format fishing logbook, the fishing gear used.







Section 3

Specific rules for the transhipment declaration and landing declaration in paper format

Article 34

Handing over of a transhipment declaration in paper format

1. In the case of a transhipment operation between two EU fishing vessels on completion of a transhipment operation the master of the transhipping fishing vessel or his representative shall hand over a copy of his vessel’s paper transhipment declaration to the master of the receiving vessel or his representative. The master of the receiving vessel or his representative on completion of transhipment operation shall also hand over a copy of his vessel’s paper transhipment declaration to the master of the transhipping vessel or his representative.

2. The copies referred to in paragraph 1 shall be presented for the purposes of control and inspection at the request of an official.

Article 35

Signing of the landing declaration

Each page of the landing declaration shall be signed prior to submission by the master or his representative.







CHAPTER II

Fishing logbook, landing declaration and transhipment declaration in electronic format







Section 1

Completion and transmission of a fishing logbook, landing declaration and transhipment declaration data in electronic format

Article 36

Requirement of electronic recording and reporting system on EU fishing vessels

1. Without prejudice to Article 39(4) of this Regulation an EU fishing vessel subject to electronic completion and transmission of fishing logbook, transhipment declaration and landing declaration in accordance with Articles 15, 21 and 24 of the Control Regulation shall not be allowed to leave port without a fully operational electronic recording and reporting system installed on board.

2. This Chapter shall not apply to EU fishing vessels used exclusively for the exploitation of aquaculture.

Article 37

Format for transmission of data from an EU fishing vessel to the competent authority of its flag State

Member States shall determine the format to be used between EU fishing vessels flying their flags and their competent authorities for the completion and transmission of fishing logbook, transhipment declaration and landing declaration data as referred to in Articles 15, 21 and 24 of the Control Regulation.

Article 38

Return messages

1. Return messages shall be issued to the EU fishing vessels for each transmission of fishing logbook, transhipment, prior notification and landing data. The return message shall contain an acknowledgement of receipt.

2. The master of an EU fishing vessel shall retain the return message until the end of the fishing trip.

Article 39

Provisions in the event of technical failure or non-functioning of electronic recording and reporting systems

1. In the event of a technical failure or non-functioning of the electronic recording and reporting system fitted on board a EU fishing vessel, the master of the fishing vessel or his representative shall, starting from the time that the event was detected or from the time that he was informed in accordance with Article 40(1) of this Regulation, communicate fishing logbook, transhipment declaration and landing declaration data to the competent authorities of the flag Member State by appropriate telecommunications means on a daily basis and no later than 24.00 even when there are no catches. Member States shall decide on the telecommunication means to be used and indicate them on the website referred to in Article 115 of the Control Regulation.

2. In the event of a technical failure or non-functioning of the electronic recording and reporting system fishing logbook and transhipment declaration data shall also be sent:

(a) at the request of the competent authority of the flag State;

(b) immediately after the last fishing operation or after the transhipment has been completed;

(c) before entering into port;

(d) at the time of any inspection at sea;

(e) at the time of events defined in Community legislation or by the flag State.

Prior notification and landing declaration data shall also be sent in the cases referred to in (a) and (e).

3. The competent authorities of the flag Member State shall enter the data referred to in paragraph 1 into the electronic data base without delay on their receipt.

4. Following a technical failure or non-functioning of its electronic recording and reporting system, a EU fishing vessel may only leave port once the recording and reporting system fitted on board is fully functioning to the satisfaction of the competent authorities of the flag Member State or is otherwise authorised to leave by the competent authorities of the flag Member State. The flag Member State shall immediately notify the coastal Member State when it has authorised one of its fishing vessels to leave a port in the coastal Member State with a non-functioning electronic recording and reporting system.

5. The removal of the electronic recording and reporting system for repair or replacement shall be subject to the approval of the competent authorities of the flag Member State.

Article 40

Non-receipt of data

1. When the competent authorities of a flag Member State have not received data transmissions in accordance with Articles 15, 22 and 24 of the Control Regulation they shall notify the master or the operator of the EU fishing vessel or their representative(s) thereof as soon as possible. If, in respect of a particular EU fishing vessel, that situation occurs more than three times within a period of calendar year, the flag Member State shall ensure that the electronic recording and reporting system of the fishing vessel is thoroughly checked. The flag Member State shall investigate the matter in order to establish why data have not been received and shall take appropriate measures.

2. When the competent authorities of a flag Member State have not received data transmissions in accordance with Articles 15, 22 and 24 of the Control Regulation and the last position received through the Vessel Monitoring System was from within the waters of a coastal Member State they shall notify the competent authorities of that coastal Member State thereof as soon as possible.

3. The master or the operator of the EU fishing vessel or their representative shall send all data which have not yet been transmitted and for which a notification was received in accordance with paragraph 1 to the competent authorities of the flag Member State immediately on receipt of the notification.

Article 41

Data access failure

1. When the competent authorities of a coastal Member State observe an EU fishing vessel of another Member State in their waters and cannot access fishing logbook or transhipment data in accordance with Article 44 of this Regulation they shall request the competent authorities of the flag Member State to ensure access to those data.

2. If the access referred to in paragraph 1 is not ensured within 4 hours of the request, the coastal Member State shall notify the flag Member State. On receipt of the notification the flag Member State shall immediately send the data to the coastal Member State by any available electronic means.

3. If the coastal Member State does not receive the data referred to in paragraph 2, the master or operator of the EU fishing vessel or their representative shall send the data and a copy of the return message referred to in Article 38 of this Regulation to the competent authorities of the coastal Member State on request and by any available, if possible electronic, means. Member States shall decide on the means to be used and shall indicate them on the website referred to in Article 115 of the Control Regulation.

4. If the master or the operator of the EU fishing vessel or their representative can not provide the competent authorities of the coastal Member State with a copy of the return message referred to in Article 38 of this Regulation, fishing activities in the waters of the coastal Member State by the fishing vessel concerned shall be prohibited until the master, the operator of the fishing vessel or his representative can provide a copy of the return message or information referred to in Article 14(1) of the Control Regulation to the said authorities.

Article 42

Data on the functioning of the electronic recording and reporting system

1. Member States shall maintain databases on the functioning of their electronic recording and reporting system. Those databases shall contain at least and be capable to generate automatically the following information:

(a) the list of their fishing vessels whose electronic recording and reporting systems have experienced technical failure or have failed to function;

(b) the number of vessels that have not made daily electronic fishing logbook transmissions and the average number of electronic fishing logbook transmissions received per fishing vessel, broken down by flag Member State;

(c) the number of transhipment declaration, landing declaration, takeover declaration and sales note transmissions received, broken down by flag Member State.

2. Summaries of information generated according to paragraph 1 shall be sent to the Commission at its request. Alternatively this information may also be made available on the secure website in a format and at time intervals to be decided by the Commission after consultation with Member States.

Article 43

Format for exchange of information between Member States

1. Information referred to in this Section shall be exchanged between Member States using the format defined in Annex XII from which extensible mark-up language (XML) shall be derived. The XML standard to be used for all electronic data exchanges between Member States, and between Member States, the Commission and the body designated by it, shall be decided by the Commission after consultation with Member States.

2. Amendments to the format referred to in paragraph 1 shall be clearly identified and marked with the date it was updated. Such amendments shall not come into effect earlier than 6 months after they have been decided.

3. When a Member State receives electronic information from another Member State it shall ensure that a return message is issued to the competent authorities of that Member State. The return message shall contain an acknowledgement of receipt.

4. Data elements in Annex XII that are mandatory for masters to record in their fishing logbook according to EU rules shall also be mandatory in exchanges between Member States.

Article 44

Access to data

1. A flag Member State shall ensure in real time the electronic exchange of information referred to in Article 111(1) of the Control Regulation to a coastal Member State on fishing logbook, transhipment declaration, prior notifications and landing declaration data of its fishing vessels when conducting fishing operations in the waters under the sovereignty or jurisdiction or entering a port of the coastal Member State.

2. Without prejudice to paragraph 1 a flag Member State may on request ensure in real time the electronic exchange of information referred to in Article 111(1) of the Control Regulation on fishing logbook and transhipment declaration data of its fishing vessels to a Member State carrying out, in accordance with Article 80 of the Control Regulation, inspections of fishing vessels of another Member State in EU waters outside of the waters of the requesting Member State, in international waters or in waters of third countries.

3. Data referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 for the previous 12 months shall be made available by the flag Member State on request.

4. The data referred to in paragraph 1 shall at least include the data from the last departure from port to the time when the landing is completed. The data referred to in paragraph 2 shall at least include the data from the last departure from port to the time of the request. Data as referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 from fishing trips for the previous 12 months shall be made available on request.

5. The master of an EU fishing vessel shall have secure access to his own electronic fishing logbook information, transhipment declaration data and landing declaration data stored in the database of the flag Member State at any time.

6. A coastal Member State shall grant online access to its database of fishing logbook, transhipment declaration, prior notification and landing declaration data to a fishery patrol vessel of another Member State via the FMC of that Member State in the context of a joint deployment plan or other agreed joint inspection activities.

Article 45

Exchange of data between Member States

1. Access to the data referred to in Article 44 of this Regulation shall be by secure Internet connection on a permanent basis.

2. Member States shall exchange the relevant technical information to ensure mutual access to and exchange of electronic fishing logbook data, transhipment declaration data and landing declaration data.

3. Member States shall:

(a) ensure that data received according to this Chapter are recorded in computer-readable form and safely stored in computerised databases for at least 3 years;

(b) take all necessary measures to ensure that they are only used for official purposes; and

(c) take all necessary technical measures to protect such data against any accidental or illicit destruction, accidental loss, deterioration, distribution or unauthorised consultation.

Article 46

Single authority

1. In each Member State, the single authority referred to in Article 5(5) of the Control Regulation shall be responsible for transmitting, receiving, managing and processing all data covered by this Chapter.

2. Member States shall exchange contact details of the authorities referred to in paragraph 1 and shall inform the Commission and the body designated by it thereof within 3 months after the entry into force of this Regulation.

3. Any changes in the information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be communicated to the Commission, the body designated by it and other Member States before they become effective.







Section 2

Specific rules for the fishing logbook in electronic format

Article 47

Frequency of transmission

1. When at sea the master of an EU fishing vessel shall transmit the electronic fishing logbook information to the competent authorities of the flag Member State at least once a day and no later than 24.00 even when there are no catches. He shall also send such data:

(a) at the request of the competent authority of the flag Member State;

(b) immediately after the last fishing operation has been completed;

(c) before entering into port;

(d) at the time of any inspection at sea;

(e) at the time of events defined in EU legislation or by the flag State.

When the last fishing operation took place not more than 1 hour before the entry into port the transmissions referred to in (b) and (c) may be sent in a single message.

2. The master may transmit corrections to the electronic fishing logbook and transhipment declaration data up to the last transmission referred to in paragraph 1(c). Corrections shall be easily identifiable. All original electronic fishing logbook data and corrections to those data shall be stored by the competent authorities of the flag Member State.

3. The master shall keep a copy of the information referred to in paragraph 1 on board the fishing vessel for the duration of each absence from port and until the landing declaration has been submitted.

4. When a EU fishing vessel is in port, does not carry fishery products on board and the master has submitted the landing declaration for all fishing operations on the last fishing trip, transmission in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article may be suspended subject to prior notification to the FMC of the flag Member State. Transmission shall be resumed when the EU fishing vessel leaves the port. Prior notification is not required for EU fishing vessels equipped with and transmitting data via VMS.







CHAPTER III

Common rules for fishing logbooks, transhipment declarations and landing declarations in paper or electronic format







Section 1

Common rules for the determination of live weight

Article 48

Definitions

For the purpose of this Chapter the following definitions shall apply:

(1) ‘presentation’ means the form into which the fish is processed while on board of the fishing vessel and prior to landing, as described in Annex I;

(2) ‘collective presentation’ means a presentation consisting of two or more parts extracted from the same fish.

Article 49

Conversion factors

1. For the completion and submission of fishing logbooks as referred to in Articles 14 and 15 of the Control Regulation the EU conversion factors set out in Annexes XIII, XIV and XV shall apply to convert stored or processed fish weight into live fish weight. They shall apply to fisheries products on board or transhipped or landed by EU fishing vessels.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, where Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, of which the European Union is a contracting party or cooperating non-contracting party, for its regulatory area or a third country with whom the European Union has an agreement to fish, for the waters under its sovereignty or jurisdiction, have established conversion factors, those factors shall apply.

3. Where no conversion factors as referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 exist for a given species and presentation, the conversion factor adopted by the flag Member State shall apply.

4. Without prejudice to paragraph 2 the competent authorities of Member States shall use the EU conversion factors referred to in paragraph 1 when calculating the live weight of transhipments and landings in order to monitor the quota uptake.

Article 50

Calculation method

1. The fish live weight shall be obtained by multiplying the fish processed weight by the conversion factors referred to in Article 49 of this Regulation for each species and presentation.

2. In case of collective presentations, only one conversion factor corresponding to one of the parts of the collective presentation of a fish shall be used.







Section 2

Common rules for the completion and submission of the Fishing logbook

Article 51

General rules for fishing logbooks

1. The margin of tolerance referred to in Article 14(3) of the Control Regulation for the estimation of quantities in kilograms live weight of each species retained on board shall be expressed as a percentage of the fishing logbook figures.

2. For catches which are to be landed unsorted the margin of tolerance may be calculated on the basis of one or more representative samples for the total quantities kept on board.

3. For the purpose of the application of Article 14 of the Control Regulation species caught for live bait shall be considered as a species caught and kept on board.

4. The master of a EU fishing vessel crossing an effort zone where it is authorised to fish shall record and report the information referred to in Article 14(5) of the Control Regulation as applicable even if he does not carry out any fishing activities in that zone.







Section 3

Common rules for the completion and submission of transhipment/landing declarations

Article 52

Margin of tolerance in the transhipment declaration

The margin of tolerance referred to in Article 21(3) of the Control Regulation for the estimation of quantities in kilograms live weight of each species transhipped or received shall be expressed as a percentage of the transhipment declaration figures.

Article 53

Difference in transhipped catches

When a difference exists between the quantities of catches transhipped from the transhipping vessel and the quantities taken on board by the receiving vessel the higher quantity shall be considered to have been transhipped. Member States shall ensure that follow up action is taken to determine the actual weight of fishery products transhipped between the transhipping and the receiving vessel.

Article 54

Completion of landing operation

When, in accordance with Article 61 of the Control Regulation, the fisheries products are transported from the place of landing before they have been weighed, the landing operation shall be regarded to have been completed for the purpose of the application of Articles 23(3) and 24(1) of the Control Regulation when the fisheries products have been weighed.

Article 55

Fishing Operations involving two or more EU fishing vessels

Without prejudice to special rules in the case of fishing operations involving two or more EU fishing vessels:

— from different Member States, or

— from the same Member State but where the catches are landed in a Member States of which they do not fly the flag,

the landed catch shall be attributed to the EU fishing vessel landing the fisheries products.







CHAPTER IV

Sampling plans and collection of data on EU fishing vessels not subject to fishing logbook and landing declaration requirements

Article 56

Establishment of sampling plans

The sampling plans referred to in Articles 16(2) and 25(2) of the Control Regulation for the monitoring of EU fishing vessels not subject to fishing logbook and landing declaration requirements shall be established by Member States in accordance with this Chapter to determine the landings of a stock or group of stocks taken by such fishing vessels and, where appropriate, their fishing effort. These data shall be used for the recording of catches and, where appropriate, fishing effort as referred to in Article 33 of the Control Regulation.

Article 57

Sampling methodology

1. The sampling plans referred to in Article 56 of this Regulation shall be drawn up in accordance with Annex XVI.

2. The size of the sample to be inspected shall be determined on the basis of risk as follows:

(a) ‘very low’ risk: 3 % of the sample;

(b) ‘low’ risk: 5 % of the sample;

(c) ‘medium’ risk: 10 % of the sample;

(d) ‘high’ risk: 15 % of the sample;

(e) ‘very high’ risk: 20 % of the sample.

3. Catches per day of a fleet sector for a given stock shall be estimated by multiplying the total number of active EU fishing vessels of the fleet sector concerned with the average daily catch per given stock per EU fishing vessel based on the catches of the sample of the EU fishing vessels inspected.

4. Member States shall be considered to have met the requirement of a sampling plan as referred to in Article 56 of this Regulation if they collect systematically on at least a monthly basis for each of their fishing vessels not subject to fishing logbook and landing declaration requirements data:

(a) on all landings of catches of all species in kilogram, including zero landings;

(b) on the statistical rectangles where these catches were taken.

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CHAPTER V

Control of fishing effort

Article 58

Fishing effort report

1. The fishing effort report referred to in Article 28 of the Control Regulation shall be sent in accordance with Annex XVII.

2. Where the master of an EU fishing vessel transmits a message to the competent authorities by radio in accordance with Article 28(1) of the Control Regulation, Member States shall decide on the radio stations to be used and indicate them on the website referred to in Article 115 of the Control Regulation.







CHAPTER VI

Corrective measures

Article 59

General principles

In order to benefit from the corrective measures referred to in Article 37 of the Control Regulation, Member States shall notify the Commission as soon as possible and in any case within 1 month of the date of the publication in the Official Journal of a closure of a fishery in accordance with Article 36 of the Control Regulation of the extent of the prejudice suffered.

Article 60

Allocation of available fishing opportunities

1. When the prejudice has not been removed wholly or in part by action in accordance with Article 20(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002, the Commission shall, as soon as possible after receiving the information referred to in Article 59 of this Regulation, take the necessary measures with the aim of remedying the prejudice caused.

2. The measure referred to in paragraph 1 shall state:

(a) which Member States have suffered prejudice (the prejudiced Member States) and the amount of the prejudice (as reduced by any quota exchanges);

(b) where applicable, which Member States have exceeded their fishing opportunities (the exceeding Member States) and the amount of the excess of fishing opportunities (as reduced by any exchanges in accordance with Article 20(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002);

(c) where applicable, the deductions to be made from the fishing opportunities of the exceeding Member States in proportion to the exceeded fishing opportunities;

(d) where applicable, the additions to be made to the fishing opportunities of the prejudiced Member States in proportion to the prejudice suffered;

(e) where applicable the date or dates on which the additions and deductions shall take effect;

(f) where appropriate, any other necessary measure for remedying the prejudice suffered.







CHAPTER VII

Engine power

Article 61

Certification of propulsion engine power

1. The certification of the maximum continuous engine power of a new propulsion engine, a replacement propulsion engine and a propulsion engine that has been technically modified, as referred to in Article 40(1) and (2) of the Control Regulation, shall be provided in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 ( 26 ).

2. A propulsion engine shall be considered to have been technically modified as referred to in paragraph 1 when any of its main components (parts), including but not limited to, injection equipment, valves, turbocharger, pistons, cylinder liners, connecting rods, cylinder heads, have been modified or replaced by new parts with different technical specifications resulting in a modified power rating or when the engine adjustments, such as the injection settings, turbocharger configuration, or the valve timings have been modified. The nature of the technical modification shall be clearly explained in the certification referred to in paragraph 1.

3. The holder of a fishing licence shall inform the competent authorities before a new propulsion engine will be installed or before an existing propulsion engine will be replaced or technically modified.

4. This Article shall apply to fishing vessels subject to a fishing effort regime as from 1 January 2012. For other fishing vessels it shall apply as from 1 January 2013. It shall only apply to fishing vessels which have had new propulsion engines installed, or whose existing propulsion engines have been replaced or technically modified, after the entry into force of this Regulation.

Article 62

Verification and sampling plan

1. For the purpose of verifying the engine power in accordance with Article 41 of the Control Regulation, Member States shall establish a sampling plan for the identification of those fishing vessels or groups of fishing vessels in their fleet with a risk of under-declaration of propulsion engine power. As a minimum, the sampling plan shall be based on following high risk criteria:

(a) fishing vessels operating in fisheries that are subject to fishing effort regimes, in particular those fishing vessels to which an individual effort allocation in kW*days has been allocated;

(b) fishing vessels subject to limitations of vessel power resulting from national or European Union law;

(c) fishing vessels for which the ratio of vessel power (kW) to vessel tonnage (GT) is 50 % lower than the average ratio for the same type of fishing vessel, gear type and target species. For the purpose of that analysis, Member States may divide the fleet according to one or several of the following criteria: (i) fleet segmentation or management units defined in national law; (ii) length categories; (iii) tonnage categories; (iv) gears used; (v) target species.

2. Member States may consider additional risk criteria following their own assessment.

3. Member States shall draw a list of their fishing vessels which meet one or more of the risk criteria referred to in paragraph 1 and, where appropriate, the risk criteria referred to in paragraph 2.

4. From each group of fishing vessels corresponding to one of the risk criteria referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, Member States shall take a random sample of fishing vessels. The size of the sample shall be equal to the square root rounded to the nearest whole number of fishing vessels in the group concerned.

5. For each fishing vessel included in the random sample, Member States shall verify all technical documents as referred to in Article 41(1) of the Control Regulation in their possession. Among the other documents as referred to under letter (g) of Article 41(1) of the Control Regulation, Member States shall pay special attention to the engine maker catalogue specifications, where available.

6. This Article shall apply as from 1 January 2012. Physical verifications as referred to in Article 41(2) of the Control Regulation shall prioritise trawlers operating in a fishery subject to a fishing effort regime.

Article 63

Physical verification

1. When propulsion power measurements are performed on board a fishing vessel in the framework of a physical verification of propulsion engine power as referred to in Article 41(2) of the Control Regulation, the propulsion engine power may be measured at the most accessible point between the propeller and the engine.

2. If the power of the propulsion engine is measured after the reduction gear, an appropriate correction shall be applied to the measurement in order to calculate the propulsion engine power at the engine output flange according to the definition in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86. That correction shall take into account the power losses resulting from the gearbox on the basis of the official technical data provided by the gearbox manufacturer.







CHAPTER VIII

Control of recreational fisheries

Article 64

Establishment of sampling plans

1. Without prejudice to the use of data as referred to in paragraph 5, sampling plans to be established by Member States in accordance with Article 55(3) of the Control Regulation for the purpose of monitoring catches of stocks subject to recovery plans practised from vessels engaged in recreational fisheries shall provide for the collection of biennial data.

2. The methods used in the sampling plans shall be established clearly and shall be, as far as possible:

(a) stable over time;

(b) standardised within regions;

(c) in accordance with the quality standards established by relevant international scientific bodies and, where appropriate, by the relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organisations to which the European Union is contracting party or observer.

3. The sampling plan shall include a sampling design for the estimation of catches of stocks subject to recovery plans, the gear used and the relevant geographical area of the recovery plan concerned where these catches where taken;

4. Member States shall estimate systematically the accuracy and precision of the collected data.

5. For the purpose of the sampling plans referred to in paragraph 1 Member States may use the data collected according to the multiannual Community programme as laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 199/2008 ( 27 ) to the extent that such data are available.

6. This provision shall not apply when a Member State has prohibited recreational fisheries of stocks subject to a recovery plan.

Article 65

Notification and evaluation of sampling plans

1. Member States shall notify their sampling plans to the Commission 12 months after the entry into force of a recovery plan. For recovery plans which are already in force at the time of entry into force of this Regulation, the sampling plan shall be notified within 12 months after entry into force of this Regulation. Amendments of the sampling plan shall be notified before they become effective.

2. In addition to the evaluation requested in Article 55(4) of the Control Regulation, the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries shall also evaluate:

(a) after the notification referred to in paragraph 1 and every 5 years thereafter the conformity of the notified sampling plans with the criteria and requirements mentioned in Article 64(2) and (3) of this Regulation;

(b) the conformity of any amendments to a sampling plan referred to in paragraph 1 with the criteria and requirements mentioned in Article 64(2) and (3) of this Regulation.

3. The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries shall make recommendations, where appropriate, for improving the sampling plan.







TITLE IV

CONTROL OF MARKETING







CHAPTER I

Traceability

Article 66

Definition

For the purpose of this Chapter, the following definition shall apply:

‘Fisheries and aquaculture products’ mean any products which fall under Chapter 03 and Tariff headings 1604 and 1605 of the Combined Nomenclature established by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff ( 28 ).

Article 67

Information on lots

1. Operators shall provide the information on fisheries and aquaculture products referred to in Article 58(5) of the Control Regulation at the moment when the fisheries and aquaculture products are put into lots and no later than the first sale.

2. In addition to paragraph 1, operators shall update the relevant information referred to in Article 58(5) of the Control Regulation which ensues from the merging or splitting of the lots of fisheries and aquaculture products after first sale, at the stage when it becomes available.

3. In case where, as a result of the merging or splitting of the lots after first sale, fisheries and aquaculture products from several fishing vessels or aquaculture production units are mixed, operators shall be able to identify each lot of origin at least by means of their identification number referred to in Article 58(5)(a) of the Control Regulation and make possible to trace them back to catching or harvesting stage, in accordance with Article 58(3) of the Control Regulation.

4. Systems and procedures referred to in Article 58(4) of the Control Regulation shall allow operators to identify the immediate supplier(s) and, except when they are final consumers, the immediate buyer(s) of the fisheries and aquaculture products.

5. The information on fisheries and aquaculture products referred to in Article 58(5) of the Control Regulation shall be provided by means of the labelling or packaging of the lot, or by means of a commercial document physically accompanying the lot. It may be affixed to the lot by way of an identification tool such as a code, barcode, electronic chip or a similar device or marking system. The information on the lot shall remain available at all stages of production, processing and distribution in such a way that the competent authorities of Member States have access to it at any time.

6. Operators shall affix the information on fisheries and aquaculture products referred to in Article 58(5) of the Control Regulation by way of an identification tool such as a code, barcode, electronic chip or a similar device or marking system:

(a) as from 1 January 2013, to fisheries subject to a multiannual plan;

(b) as from 1 January 2015, to other fisheries and aquaculture products.

7. Where the information referred to in Article 58(5) of the Control Regulation is provided by means of a commercial document physically accompanying the lot, at least the identification number shall be affixed to the corresponding lot.

8. Member States shall cooperate with each other to ensure that the information affixed to the lot and/or accompanying physically the lot can be accessed by the competent authorities of another Member State than the one where the fisheries or aquaculture products have been put into the lot, in particular when the information is affixed to the lot by way of an identification tool such as a code, barcode, an electronic chip or a similar device. Operators using such tools shall ensure that they are developed on the basis of internationally recognised standards and specifications.

9. The information on the date of catches referred to in Article 58(5) point (d) of the Control Regulation may include several calendar days or one period of time corresponding to several dates of catches.

10. The information on the suppliers referred to in Article 58(5) point (f) of the Control Regulation shall be the immediate supplier(s) of the operator referred in paragraph 4 of this Article. This information may be provided, where applicable, by way of the identification mark referred to in Annex II, Section I, of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin ( 29 ).

11. The information listed in points (a) to (f) of Article 58(5) of the Control Regulation shall not apply to:

(a) imported fisheries and aquaculture products which are excluded from the scope of implementation of the catch certificate in accordance with Article 12(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 ( 30 );

(b) fisheries and aquaculture products caught or farmed in freshwater; and

(c) ornamental fish, crustaceans and molluscs.

12. The information listed in points (a) to (h) of Article 58(5) of the Control Regulation shall not apply to fisheries and aquaculture products falling under Tariff headings 1604 and 1605 of the Combined Nomenclature.

13. For the purposes of Article 58 of the Control Regulation, the information on the relevant geographical area shall be:

(a) the relevant geographical area, as defined in Article 4(30) of the Control Regulation, for catches of stocks or group of stocks subject to a quota and/or a minimum size in EU legislation; or

(b) the catch area in accordance with Article 5 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2065/2001 ( 31 ), for other stocks or group of stocks.

14. The value of small quantities of fisheries and aquaculture products referred to in Article 58(8) of the Control Regulation shall be applicable to direct sales by a fishing vessel, per calendar day and per final consumer.

Article 68

Information to the consumer

1. Member States shall ensure that the information referred to in Article 58(6) of the Control Regulation concerning the commercial designation, the scientific name of the species, the catch area referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 2065/2001 and the production method is indicated on the label or appropriate mark of the fisheries and aquaculture products offered for retail sale, including imported products.

2. By derogation from paragraph 1, the scientific name of the species may be provided to the consumers at retail level by means of commercial information such as bill boards or posters.

3. Where a fisheries or aquaculture product has been previously frozen, the word ‘defrosted’ shall also be indicated on the label or appropriate mark referred to in paragraph 1. The absence of this wording at retail level shall be considered as meaning that the fisheries and aquaculture products have not been frozen beforehand and later defrosted.

4. By derogation from paragraph 3, the word ‘defrosted’ shall not have to appear on:

(a) fisheries and aquaculture products previously frozen for health safety purposes, in accordance with Annex III, Section VIII, of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004; and

(b) fisheries and aquaculture products which have been defrosted before the process of smoking, salting, cooking, pickling, drying or a combination of those processes.

5. This Article shall not apply to fisheries and aquaculture products falling under Tariff headings 1604 and 1605 of the Combined Nomenclature.

6. Fisheries and aquaculture products and packages labelled or marked prior to the date of entry into force of this Article which do not comply with Article 58(5) point (g) on the scientific name and point (h) of the Control Regulation and with paragraphs (1), (2) and (3) of this Article may be marketed until such stocks have been used up.







CHAPTER II

Weighing of fisheries products







Section 1

General rules on weighing

Article 69

Scope

Without prejudice to Articles 78 - 89 of this Regulation the provisions contained in this chapter shall apply to landings from EU fishing vessels taking place in a Member State and transhipments involving EU fishing vessels taking place in ports or places close to the shore of a Member State as well as to the weighing of fisheries products on board EU fishing vessels in EU waters.

Article 70

Weighing records

1. Registered buyers, registered auctions or other bodies or persons that are responsible for the first marketing or storage before first marketing of fisheries products, or where appropriate the master of the EU fishing vessel, shall record weighing carried out in accordance Articles 60 and 61 of the Control Regulation by indicating the following information:

(a) the FAO alpha-3 codes of the species weighed;

(b) result of weighing for each quantity of each species in kilograms product weight;

(c) the external identification number and the name of the fishing vessel from which the weighed quantity originates;

(d) presentation of the fisheries products weighed;

(e) date of weighing (YYYY-MM-DD).

2. Registered buyers, registered auctions or other bodies or persons that are responsible for the first marketing, or storage before first marketing of fisheries products or where appropriate the master of an EU fishing vessel, shall keep the records referred to in paragraph 1 for a period of 3 years.

Article 71

Timing of weighing

1. Where fisheries products are transhipped between EU fishing vessels and the first landing of the transhipped fisheries products is to take place in a port outside of the European Union, the fisheries products shall be weighed before being transported away from the port or place of transhipment.

2. When the fisheries products are weighed on board an EU fishing vessel in accordance with Article 60(3) of the Control Regulation and they are weighed again on land after landing the figure resulting from the weighing on land shall be used for the purpose of Article 60(5) of the Control Regulation.

3. Without prejudice to special provisions for EU fishing vessels not subject to the electronic completion and transmission of fishing logbook data as referred to in Article 15 of the Control Regulation the Member State may require the master to hand over a copy of the log sheet to the competent authorities of the Member State of landing prior to weighing.

Article 72

Weighing systems

1. All weighing systems shall be calibrated and sealed in accordance with national systems by the competent authorities of the Member State.

2. The natural or legal person responsible for the weighing system shall maintain a record of calibration.

3. Where the weighing is carried out on a conveyor belt system a visible counter shall be fitted that records the cumulative total of the weight. The reading of the counter at the start of the weighing operation as well as the cumulative total shall be recorded. All use of the system shall be recorded by the natural or legal person responsible for the weighing in the weighing logbook.

Article 73

Weighing of frozen fisheries products

1. Without prejudice to special provisions and in particular Articles 70 and 74 of this Regulation when landed quantities of frozen fisheries products are weighed, the weight of frozen fisheries products landed in boxes or blocks may be determined per species and, where appropriate, presentation by multiplying the total number of boxes or blocks by a net average weight for a box or block calculated according to the methodology set down in Annex XVIII.

2. The natural or legal persons weighing the fisheries products shall keep a record per landing, indicating:

(a) the name and external registration letters and numbers of the vessel from which the fishery products have been landed;

(b) the species and, where appropriate, presentation of fish landed;

(c) the size of the lot and sample of pallets per species and, where appropriate, presentation in accordance with the provisions of point 1 of Annex XVIII;

(d) the weight of each pallet in the sample and the average weight of the pallets;

(e) the number of boxes or blocks on each pallet in the sample;

(f) the tare weight per box, if different from the tare weight specified in point 4 of Annex XVIII;

(g) the average weight of an empty pallet in accordance with the provisions of point 3(b) of Annex XVIII;

(h) the average weight per box or block of fisheries per species and, where appropriate, presentation.

Article 74

Ice and water

1. Before weighing the registered buyer, registered auction or other bodies or persons responsible for the first marketing of fisheries products shall ensure that the fisheries products be cleaned of ice as is reasonable without causing spoilage and reducing quality.

2. Without prejudice to special rules for pelagic species referred to in Articles 78 – 89 of this Regulation which are landed in bulk for transfer to the point of first marketing, storage or processing, the deduction of water and ice from the total weight shall not exceed 2%. In all cases the percentage for deduction of water and ice shall be recorded on the weighing slip with the entry for weight. For non-pelagic species there shall be no deduction of water or ice.

Article 75

Access by competent authorities

The competent authorities shall have full access at all times to the weighing systems, the weighing records, written declarations and all premises where the fisheries products are stored or processed.

Article 76

Sampling plans

1. The sampling plan referred to in Article 60(1) of the Control Reg