Procedure in the case of evidence of infringements of IOTC measures during port inspections
1. If the information collected during the inspection provides evidence that a fishing vessel has committed a breach of the IOTC measures, this Article shall apply in addition to Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008.
2. The competent authorities of the port Member State shall forward a copy of the inspection report to the Commission, or to a body designated by it, as soon as possible and in any case within three working days. The Commission, or the body designated by it, shall transmit that report to the IOTC Secretariat and to the flag CPC point of contact without delay.
3. Port Member States shall promptly notify the action taken in the event of infringements to the competent authority of the flag CPC and to the Commission, or to a body designated by it. The Commission, or the body designated by it, shall transmit that information to the IOTC Secretariat.
Alleged infringements reported by Member States
1. Member States shall submit to the Commission, using the reporting form of Annex I to CMM 18/03, any documented information that indicates possible instances of non-compliance by any fishing vessel with IOTC conservation and management measures in the Area over the past two years at least 80 days in advance of the annual meeting of the IOTC. The Commission shall examine that information and, if appropriate, forward it to the IOTC Secretariat at least 70 days in advance of the compliance committee meeting.
2. The documented information referred to in paragraph 1 shall be accompanied by the information concerning the IUU fishing activity of each of the listed vessels, including:
(a)
reports regarding the alleged IUU fishing activity relating to CMMs in force;
(b)
trade information obtained on the basis of relevant trade statistics such as those from statistical documents and other verifiable national or international statistics;
(c)
any information obtained from other sources or gathered from fishing grounds, such as:
—
information gathered from inspections undertaken in port or at sea;
—
information from coastal states including VMS transponder or Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, surveillance data from satellites or airborne or seaborne assets;
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IOTC programmes, except where such a programme stipulates that information gathered is to be kept confidential; or
—
information and intelligence collected by third parties.
Alleged infringements reported by CPC and the IOTC Secretariat
1. Where the Commission receives from a CPC or the IOTC Secretariat any information indicating alleged IUU fishing activities by a Union fishing vessel, it shall transmit that information to the Member State concerned without delay.
2. The Member State concerned shall provide the Commission with the findings of any investigation undertaken in relation to the allegations of non-compliance by fishing vessels flying its flag, and any actions taken to address compliance concerns, at least 45 days in advance of the annual meeting of the IOTC. The Commission shall forward that information to the IOTC at least 15 days in advance of the annual meeting.
Draft IOTC IUU vessel list
1. If the Commission receives official notification of the inclusion of a Union fishing vessel in the draft IOTC IUU vessel list from the IOTC Secretariat, it shall transmit that notification, including the supporting evidence and any other documented information provided by the IOTC Secretariat, to the flag Member State concerned.
2. The Member State concerned shall provide comments no later than 30 days in advance of the annual meeting of the IOTC Compliance Committee. The Commission shall examine and forward that information to the IOTC Secretariat at least 15 days in advance of the annual meeting of the Compliance Committee.
3. Once notified by the Commission, the authorities of the flag Member State concerned shall:
(a)
notify the owner and the operators of the fishing vessel of its inclusion in the draft IOTC IUU vessel list and of the possible consequences that may result from that inclusion being confirmed in the IUU vessel list adopted by the IOTC; and
(b)
closely monitor the vessels included in the draft IOTC IUU vessel list, in order to determine their activities and detect possible changes of name, flag, or registered owner of those vessels.
Provisional IOTC IUU vessel list
1. In order to prevent a Union fishing vessel included in the draft IOTC IUU vessel list, as referred to in Article 49, from being included in the provisional IOTC IUU vessel list, the flag Member State shall provide the following information to the Commission demonstrating that:
(a)
the vessel has, at all relevant times, complied with the conditions of its authorisation and:
—
conducted fishing activities in a manner consistent with the CMMs,
—
conducted fishing activities within the waters under the jurisdiction of a coastal State in a manner consistent with the laws and regulations of that coastal State, or
—
fished exclusively for species not covered by the Agreement; or
(b)
effective punitive action has been taken in response to the IUU fishing activities in question, including prosecution and imposition of sanctions of adequate severity to be effective in securing compliance and deterring further infringements.
2. The Commission shall examine the information referred to in paragraph 1 and transmit it to the IOTC Secretariat without delay.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
