(10)

Article 22 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 22 Transfer operations 1. Before any transfer operation, the master of a catching or towing vessel or the operator of the farm or tuna trap where the transfer in question originates shall send to the competent authorities of the respective responsible Member State a prior notification of transfer indicating: (a) the name of the catching vessel, farm or tuna trap and the ICCAT register number; (b) the estimated time of transfer; (c) the estimate of the quantity of bluefin tuna to be transferred; (d) information on the position (latitude/longitude) where the transfer will take place as well as the identifiable cage numbers; (e) the name of the receiving towing vessel, the number of cages towed and, where appropriate, the ICCAT register number; (f) the port, farm or cage of destination of the bluefin tuna. 2. The authorities of the responsible Member State shall decide for each transfer operation whether to grant authorisation. For this purpose, a unique identification number shall, for each transfer operation, be assigned and communicated to the master of the fishing vessel, the tuna trap operator or the farm operator, as appropriate. Where authorisation is granted, that number shall comprise the three-letter CPC code, the four numbers indicating the year, and the three letters “AUT”, (authorisation), followed by sequential numbers. Where authorisation is refused, the number shall comprise the three letters of the CPCs code, the four numbers indicating the year, and the three letters “NEG” (non-authorisation), followed by sequential numbers. Transfer operations shall not begin without a prior authorisation. The transfer shall be authorised or not authorised by the Member State responsible for the catching vessel, towing vessel, farm or tuna trap, as appropriate, within 48 hours following the submission of the prior notification of transfer. The Member State shall not authorise the transfer if, on receipt of the prior notification of transfer, it considers that: (a) the catching vessel or the tuna trap that is declared to have caught the fish does not have sufficient quota; (b) the quantity of fish has not been duly reported by the catching vessel or the tuna trap operator or has not been authorised to be caged, and has not been taken into account for the consumption of the quota that may be applicable; (c) the catching vessel that is declared to have caught the fish is not authorised to fish for bluefin tuna; or (d) the towing vessel declared to be the one to receive the transfer of fish is not registered in the ICCAT record of all other fishing vessels (catching vessels excluded) authorised to operate for bluefin tuna, referred to in Article 14(3), or is not equipped with a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). 3. If the transfer is not authorised: (a) the Member State responsible for the catching vessel shall issue a release order and inform the master of the catching vessel that the transfer is not authorised and that the fish have to be released into the sea; (b) the master of the catching vessel, the farm operator or the tuna trap operator, as appropriate, shall release the fish into the sea; (c) the release of bluefin tuna into the sea shall be recorded by video camera and observed by an ICCAT regional observer who shall draft and submit a report together with the video recording to the ICCAT Secretariat. 4. The master of a catching or towing vessel, the tuna trap operator or the farm operator shall, at the end of the transfer operation, complete and transmit to the competent authorities of the responsible Member State the ICCAT transfer declaration, in accordance with the format set out in Annex VIIIa. Transfer declaration forms shall be numbered by the competent authorities of the Member State responsible for the vessel, farm or tuna trap where this transfer originates. The numbering system shall include the three-letter CPC code, followed by the four numbers indicating the year and three sequential numbers followed by the three letters “ITD” (CPC-20**/xxx/ITD). The original transfer declaration shall accompany the transfer of the fish. A copy of the declaration shall be kept by the master of the catching vessel, the tuna trap operator, the master of the towing vessel or the farm operator. 5. Masters of vessels carrying out transfer operations (including towing vessels), shall record daily in their logbook both the weight and number of fish transferred, as well as the name, flag and ICCAT register number of the catching vessel, the name and ICCAT register number of any other vessels involved, the date and position of the transfer and the farm of destination. The logbook shall contain the details of all transfers carried out during the fishing season. It shall be kept on board and shall be accessible at any time for control purposes. 6. The authorisation for transfer by the responsible Member State shall not prejudge the authorisation of the caging operation. 7. The master of the catching vessel, farm operator or tuna trap operator that transfers bluefin tuna shall ensure that the transfer operations are monitored by video camera in the water. Two copies of each video record of the transfers shall be produced. One copy shall be transmitted to the regional observer and one to the CPC or national observer, as appropriate, on board the towing vessel. The copy that is transmitted to the CPC or national observer shall accompany the transfer declaration and the associated catches to which it relates. The ICCAT transfer declaration number shall be displayed at the beginning or at the end of each video record, which shall continuously display the time and date. The Member States shall provide copies of video records to the ICCAT Scientific Committee at the request of the Commission. 8. The ICCAT regional observer on board the catching vessel, as referred to in the ICCAT Regional Observer Programme set out in Annex VII, shall record and report on the transfer operations carried out, verify the position of the catching vessel when it is engaged in transfer operations, observe and estimate catches transferred and verify entries made in the prior transfer authorisation referred to in paragraph 2 and in the ICCAT transfer declaration referred to in paragraph 4. Where the estimation of catch by the regional observer is at least 10 % higher by number and/or average weight than declared by the master of the catching vessel, the Member State responsible for the catching vessel shall initiate an investigation which shall be concluded prior to the time of caging at the farm. Pending the results of this investigation, caging shall not be authorised and the catch section of the bluefin tuna catch document shall not be validated. 9. The ICCAT regional observers shall sign the ICCAT transfer declaration and clearly write their name and their ICCAT number. They shall verify that the ICCAT transfer declaration has been correctly filled in and duly transmitted to the master of the towing vessel. The tuna trap operator shall complete and send the ICCAT transfer declaration to the competent authorities of its Member State at the end of the transfer to the fishing vessel, in accordance with the format set out in Annex IV. 10. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down detailed rules pertaining to transfer operations under paragraphs 2 and 7 of this Article. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 38a.’;