Proposal for a Council Regulation establishing a tuna tracking and verification system
Date: 2001-07-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: conservation of fish stocks, fishery management, fishery resources, protection of animal life, sea fish

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Official Journal of the European Communities

30.10.2001

Proposal for a Council Regulation establishing a tuna tracking and verification system

(2001/C 304 E/14)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(2001) 406 final (cid:151) 2001/0170(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 30 July 2001)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 37 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission

of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying
down the procedures for the exercise of
implementing
powers conferred on the Commission (3), they should be
adopted by use, respectively, of the management procedure
provided for in Article 4 of that Decision and of the regu-
latory procedure provided for in Article 5 thereof,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Whereas:

(1) The Community has fishing interests in the eastern Pacific
and has started the procedure to accede to the Inter-
American Tropical Tuna Commission, hereinafter referred
to as the IATTC. In anticipation of its accession to that
organisation, and in accordance with its cooperation obli-
gations under the United Nations Convention on the Law
of
the Community has decided to apply the
measures adopted by the IATTC.

the Sea,

Article 1

Purpose

and
This Regulation lays down the general principles
conditions relating to the Community’s application of
the
tuna tracking and verification system adopted by the parties
to the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation
Programme ((cid:145)the AIDCP(cid:146)).

(2) The

Council

Community,

Decision
through
1999/337/EC (1), has signed the Agreement on the Inter-
national Dolphin Conservation Programme, hereinafter
referred to as the AIDCP, and has decided, by means of
Council Decision 1999/386/EC (2), to apply it provisionally
pending its full approval. The Community must therefore
apply the provisions of the Agreement, the Secretariat for
which is provided by the IATTC.

Article 2

Scope

This Regulation shall apply to Community fishing vessels, that
is to say, fishing vessels flying the flag of a Member State and
registered in the Community, fishing for tuna in the waters of
the eastern Pacific as defined in Article 3 of the AIDCP.

(3) In July 1999 the Contracting Parties to the AIDCP decided
to establish a system to track and verify tuna caught in the
Agreement’s area of application, with a view to identifying
tuna caught without any risk to dolphins.

This Regulation shall also apply to (cid:145)carriers(cid:146), that is to say,
vessels that carry tuna tracked by a tracking form, flying the
flag of a Member State and registered in the Community.

(4) As that Decision has become binding on the Parties to the
required to
it as far as Community fishing vessels are

the Community is

therefore

Agreement,
implement
concerned.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(5) Supervision of the unloading and transloading of the catch,
at port, is the responsibility of each Member State, but it
can, by administrative arrangement or agreement, delegate
this responsibility to the State where unloading occurs.

1.

(cid:145)Tuna(cid:146): means species of the suborder Scombridae, with the
exception of the genus Scomber;

(6) Since the measures necessary for the implementation of
this Regulation are, variously, management measures and
measures of general scope within the meaning of Article 2

2.

family,
(cid:145)Dolphin(cid:146): means
associated with yellowfin tuna fishing in the area referred
to in Article 2;

the Delphinidae

species of

(1) OJ L 132, 27.5.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 147, 12.6.1999, p. 23.

(3) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

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3.

(cid:145)Dolphin-safe tuna(cid:146): means tuna captured in sets in which
there is no mortality or serious injury of dolphins;

tracking form, in consultation with the captain or his represen-
tative. The captain or his representative and the observer shall
initial each completed tracking form.

4.

(cid:145)Non-dolphin-safe tuna(cid:146):
mortality or serious injury of dolphins occurs;

is tuna captured in sets in which

5.

(cid:145)Observer(cid:146): is the person assigned to the vessel by the Inter-
American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) or
the
contracting Party’s national observer programme to record
the vessel’s fishing activities;

3.
Transfers of tuna at sea from the net of one fishing vessel
to another fishing vessel shall be indicated on the tracking
form by the observers of both vessels, specifying the quantity
involved, the species and dolphin-safe status of the tuna being
transferred.

6.

(cid:145)Tracking form(cid:146): is a document presented in accordance with
model A in Annex I (dolphin-safe tuna) and model B in
Annex II (non-dolphin-safe tuna) hereto;

4.
At the end of the fishing trip, the captain and observer
shall together review the tracking form, enter any additional
comments, and sign it.

7.

(cid:145)Set(cid:146): is the act of deploying and retrieving the purse seine in
order to catch tuna;

8.

(cid:145)Bin(cid:146): is any container used to store tuna after unloading,
during cold storage or for transport to processing.

Article 4

Member States’ obligations

The Member States shall be responsible for tracking and
transported and unloaded by vessels

1.
verifying tuna caught,
flying their flag, and tuna for processing on their territory.

The Commission shall adopt detailed rules

5.
the
application of this Article in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Article 9(2).

for

Article 6

Unloading operations

No later than 72 hours before the estimated date of
1.
unloading, the vessel captain, the owner or his agent shall
notify their national authorities of
the dates and places of
unloading of all or part of a catch, with a view to its verifi-
cation.

2.
The obligation in paragraph 1 shall also apply to tuna
unloaded outside the area referred to in Article 2 by vessels
operating in that area. In the case of those vessels, the tracking
system shall involve confirmation of the weight unloaded.

2.
If a fishing trip terminates when the vessel has been
unloaded, a new tracking form shall be issued for that vessel
for its next fishing trip and any tuna retained on board shall be
recorded as the first entry on the new form.

The Member States shall provide the on-board observer
3.
with tracking forms for each of the vessels flying their flag and
authorised to fish for tuna in the area referred to in Article 2.

Article 5

Captain’s obligations

The

shall

observer

1.
as
(cid:145)dolphin-safe(cid:146) or (cid:145)non-dolphin-safe(cid:146) and, on the basis of this
classification,
the tuna shall be loaded into prepared holds
identified for ^that purpose.

classify

caught

tuna

the

2.
Upon completion of the loading operations, the species
and estimated quantity of tuna loaded into each hold, per net,
shall be indicated by the observer on the corresponding

If a fishing trip continues after the vessel has been
3.
unloaded,
the vessel shall retain the original tracking form
and a copy, authenticated by the original signatures, shall be
sent to the national authorities of the port of unloading.

4. Where tuna is unloaded from one fishing vessel and then
loaded aboard a carrier vessel for transport to a processing
location, the Flag State of the carrier vessel shall be responsible
for obtaining the relevant tuna tracking form, retaining the
information on the unloading (including the total weight
the
unloaded if
dolphin-safe tuna is kept separate from the non-dolphin-safe
tuna during loading and transport. The two kinds of tuna may
be stored in the same place during transport, provided that
they remain physically separated and the non-dolphin-safe
tuna is clearly labelled.

it has been checked), and verifying that

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If the tuna is unloaded for immediate processing, the
5.
Member State where processing takes place shall be responsible
for keeping the documentation on unloading and for recording
the confirmed weight of the dolphin-safe and non-dolphin-safe
tuna. The Member State in question shall use the original tuna
tracking form for entering the requisite information into the
database and for tracking of the processed tuna, and shall send
a copy of this form to the Flag Member State of the vessel that
fished the tuna concerned.

6.
Unloaded tuna shall be placed in different bins, according
to their status as dolphin-safe or otherwise. Each bin shall be
identified by the corresponding tuna tracking form number, the
status of the tuna and the confirmed weight.

Each sale of part of the catch shall be accompanied by the
7.
form
corresponding
reference number of
the
throughout all stages of processing. Every transfer of
catch shall be notified to the competent authorities of
the
Member State of unloading and/or processing, specifying the
tracking form number,
tuna
involved, and the consignee.

the species and quantity of

tracking

the

Before 1 May each year, Member States shall send a
3.
report of their implementation of the tuna tracking and verifi-
cation system to the Commission, which shall send a report on
this basis to the AIDCP Secretariat before each annual meeting.

The Member States shall send the Commission the names
for
exact

4.
and
responsible
implementing the tuna tracking and verification system.

addresses

officials

the

of

The Commission shall send the AIDCP Secretariat the
the Commission officials in
implementing the tuna tracking and verification

5.
names and exact addresses of
charge of
system.

Article 8

Amendment of Annexes

Annexes I and II may be amended in accordance with the
the
procedure referred to in Article 9(3), so as to reflect
AIDCP conservation measures binding the Community.

8. Where tuna is landed in third-country ports, a copy of
the tracking document signed by the observer and captain shall
be sent by the captain to the national authorities of the Flag
Member State.

Article 9

Committee

The Member

States may, under

the
to the national authorities of

specific bilateral
9.
supervision of unloading and
agreements, delegate
transport
involved.
That State accordingly becomes responsible for implementing
the system in the case of the tuna unloaded and transported on
its territory, regardless of the flag of the vessel that caught
them.

the port

1.
The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee
established by Article 17 of Council Regulation (EEC) No
3760/92 (1).

reference

2. Where
the
management procedure laid down in Article 4 of Decision
1999/468/EC shall apply, in compliance with Article 7 thereof.

to this paragraph,

is made

The Commission shall adopt detailed rules

10.
the
application of this Article in accordance with the procedure
referred to in Article 9(2).

for

Article 7

Data transmission

For the implementation of this tuna tracking and verifi-
1.
cation system,
the Member States shall create a computer
database to which the Commission shall have computerised
access.

2. Within 10 days of receipt of a tuna tracking form, the
Member States shall send one copy, signed by the observer and
captain,
to the AIDCP Secretariat, and a copy to the
Commission.

3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, the regulatory
procedure laid down in Article 5 of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall apply, in compliance with Article 7 thereof.

The period provided for in Article 4(3) and Article 5(6)

4.
of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be three months.

Article 10

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all Member States.

(1) OJ L 389, 31.12.1992, p. 1.

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TRACKING DOCUMENT (MODEL A) FOR DOLPHIN-SAFE TUNA

ANNEX I

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TRACKING DOCUMENT (MODEL B) FOR NON-DOLPHIN-SAFE TUNA

ANNEX II

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