Prior notification form
Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009 is amended as follows: (1) Article 2 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 2 Prior notification form The form for prior notification referred to in Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 is set out in Annex II to this Regulation.’ ; (2) Article 4 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 4 Benchmarks for port inspection 1. The benchmarks for port inspections as referred to in Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 shall consist of the following criteria: (a) the species concerned are subject to an inspection scheme or quotas established by regional fisheries management organisations; (b) the fishing vessel has not been inspected at an EU port in the last 6 months; (c) inconsistencies between the catches and the known fishing activities of a flag State in particular in respect of species, volumes or characteristics of its fishing fleet; (d) failure to comply with Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 on prior notice; inconsistencies between catch data declared by the operator and other information available to the competent authority; (e) vessel owner or operator suspected of being or having been involved in IUU fishing activities; (f) vessel having recently changed its name, flag or registration number; (g) vessel currently flagged or flagged in the last 5 years to a State notified by the European Commission of the possibility of being identified as non-cooperating third country in accordance with Article 31 of the Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008; (h) vessel flagged to a State not notified in accordance with Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008; (i) information available on possible irregularities in the validation of catch certificates by a given flag State; (j) presumed deficiencies in the control system of a flag State; (k) operators concerned have been involved in illegal activities constituting a potential risk in respect of IUU fishing; (l) the fishing vessel has been denied entry or use of port in accordance with relevant international, regional and/or national legislation including fishing vessels eventually allowed entry or access to port due to force majeure or distress according to Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008. 2. In order to ensure the implementation of point (b) of the first paragraph, Member States shall, after every inspection, report without delay to the Commission and to the European Fisheries Control Agency the name and the flag of the third country vessel inspected and the date of inspection. The Commission or the European Fisheries Control Agency shall make this information available to other Member States.’ ; (3) Article 6 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 6 Simplified catch certificate 1. This Article shall apply to third country fishing vessels: (a) with an overall length of less than 12 metres without towed gear; or (b) with an overall length of less than 8 metres with towed gear; 2. Catches from third country fishing vessels referred to in paragraph 1 which are only landed in the flag State of those vessels, and which together constitute one consignment may be accompanied by a simplified catch certificate instead of the catch certificate referred to in Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008. The simplified catch certificate shall contain all the information specified in the specimen shown in Annex IV to this Regulation and shall be validated by the public authority of the flag State that has the necessary powers to attest the accuracy of the information. 3. The validation of the simplified catch certificate shall be requested by the exporter of the consignment upon submission to the public authority of all the information specified in the specimen shown in Annex IV.’ . (4) The following Article 6a is inserted: ‘Article 6a Catch 1. In accordance with Article 12a(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, the importer, the re-exporter and, where relevant, the exporter, shall submit through CATCH the following documents, as applicable, and the information contained therein to the competent authority of the Member State in which the fishery products are intended to be released into free circulation, or in case of re-exports to the competent authority of the Member State from which they are to take place, or in case of exports to the competent authority of the flag Member State: (a) catch certificate in conformity with Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 and the template established on Annex II to that Regulation; (b) simplified catch certificate in conformity with Article 6 and the template established in Annex IV to this Regulation; (c) re-export certificate as established in Article 21 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 and included in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 or in Annex IV to this Regulation; (d) transport details included in the Appendix to Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008; (e) statement referred to in Article 14(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 established by the processing plant in a third country and endorsed by the competent authority of that third country in accordance with the form set out in Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008; (f) single transport document referred to in Article 14(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 or non-manipulation document according to the template established in the Delegated Regulation (EC) 2025/453; (g) any supporting documents or information relevant under the catch certification scheme related to the fishery products. 2. The documents and information referred to in paragraph 1 shall be drawn up in at least one of the official EU languages of the Member State where the submission takes place. 3. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, the Member State where the submission takes place may consent to receiving documents written in another official EU language upon request to that effect from the operator concerned. 4. Each Member State shall designate one or more contact points for CATCH and communicate that designation and their contact details to the Commission. Member States shall update the contact points for CATCH and inform the Commission immediately of any changes in this respect. The Commission shall maintain and keep up to date a list of contact points and make it available to all Member States. 5. The Commission shall have access to all data, information and documents in CATCH in order to monitor the exchange of data, information and documents inserted or produced therein for identifying activities that are, or appear to be, not in compliance with the rules established in Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008. The European Fisheries Control Agency shall have the same access rights as the Commission, in order to assist the Commission and the Member States in the uniform and effective application of the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy, as foreseen in Regulation (EU) 2019/473 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( *1 ) , including as regards the fight against IUU fishing. 6. As regards access for users other than the Commission and the European Fisheries Control Agency to data, information and documents in CATCH, the general rules for TRACES as established in Article 36 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 apply. 7. On receipt of an application, the Commission may grant the competent authority and operators of a third country partial access to the functionalities of CATCH and to specific data relevant to that third country for producing and validating the catch certificates and related documents in CATCH, provided the applicant demonstrates that it meets the following requirements: (a) it has the legal and operational capacity to provide, without undue delay, the assistance necessary to allow the good functioning of CATCH; and (b) it has designated a contact point for that purpose. The partial access referred to in this paragraph shall not include access to personal data processed in CATCH, except where the conditions for lawful transfers of personal data established by Regulations (EU) 2016/679 and (EU) 2018/1725 are fulfilled by the applicant third country. 8. Data exchanges between CATCH and other electronic systems, including the Member States’ national systems, shall be synchronous, reciprocal and based on UN/CEFACT standards. Data exchanges between CATCH and the Member States’ national systems shall make use of reference data provided in CATCH. 9. In the event of unavailability of CATCH, users may use fillable printed or electronic templates to record and exchange information. These templates shall be publicly available on a Commission’s official website. Once the system is available again, the importer shall introduce in CATCH the information recorded in the fillable printed or electronic templates and attach them in CATCH as supporting documents. These documents shall bear the text produced during contingency. The Commission shall inform users through CATCH two weeks in advance of any planned unavailability, how long it will last and the reason for it. 10. For the purpose of compliance with Article 22(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, catch certificates and related documents generated by third countries’ operators and validated by third countries’ authorities electronically in CATCH shall be stored by CATCH for at least 3 years. Personal data from the catch certificates and related documents shall be stored by CATCH for no more than 10 years. 11. With regard to processing of personal data in CATCH, the general rules for IMSOC as established in Articles 10 and 11 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 apply. ( *1 ) Regulation (EU) 2019/473 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019 on the European Fisheries Control Agency ( OJ L 83, 25.3.2019, p. 18 , ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/473/oj ).’;" (5) Article 7 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 7 Recognised catch documentation schemes in RFMOs The catch documentation schemes adopted by regional fisheries management organisations listed in Annex V to this Regulation shall be recognised for the purposes of Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 as complying with the requirements of that Regulation without additional conditions.’ ; (6) Article 12 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 12 Management of records The system of managing catch certificates and, where appropriate, processing records, as referred to in Article 16(3)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, shall be considered satisfactory if the information contained in the catch certificates and related documents as referred to in Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 is registered in CATCH.’ ; (7) the title of Chapter III and Article 31 are replaced by the following: ‘ CHAPTER III Checks and verifications Article 31 Union criteria for verifications In accordance with Article 17(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, Member States shall focus verifications towards risks identified on the basis of the following Union criteria: (a) alerts triggered in CATCH; (b) information shared by Mutual Assistance messages in accordance with Article 51 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 and Title IV of this Regulation; (c) products obtained from species subject to quota under a regional fisheries management organisation; (d) country notified of the possibility of being identified as non-cooperating third country in accordance with Article 32 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008; (e) vessel, vessel owner or operator suspected of being or having been involved in IUU fishing activities; (f) vessel, vessel owner or operator having been involved in illegal activities other than IUU fishing but constituting a potential risk in respect of IUU fishing; (g) vessel having recently changed its name, flag or registration number; (h) fishery products obtained from species of high commercial value; (i) introduction of new kinds of fishery products, new product presentations, or new trade patterns; (j) inconsistencies between the trade patterns and the known fishing activities of a flag State in particular in respect of species, volumes or characteristics of its fishing fleet; (k) inconsistencies between the trade patterns and the known fishing-related activities of a third country in particular in respect of the characteristics of its processing industry or its trade in fishery products; (l) trade patterns not justified in terms of economic rationality or logic; (m) significant and sudden increase in trade volume for a certain species; (n) catch certificate submitted in relation to several consignments; (o) generation, validation and submission of paper-based catch certificates or endorsement of paper-based processing statements; (p) inconsistencies between data submitted in CATCH by the operator and data contained in the paper-based catch certificates, or any other related paper-based documents, or any other relevant information available to the competent authority; (q) use of box 6 of the catch certificate as laid down in Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008; (r) use of box 7 of the catch certificate as laid down in Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 in case of transhipments; (s) submission of catch certificates accompanied by multiple transport details as foreseen in the Appendix to Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 and/or documents foreseen under Article 14(1) of the same Regulation; (t) product from a new flag State or from a new exporting State; (u) newly established operator.’ ; (8) Article 32 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 32 Reporting obligations and evaluation 1. Member States shall include information on the application of the criteria referred to in Article 31 in their report to be transmitted to the Commission every two years according to Article 55(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008. 2. In their reports, Member States shall include the following information: (a) checks carried out in accordance with Article 16(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008; (b) number and nature of additional risk indicators introduced by Member States in CATCH at national level; (c) number of alerts triggered in CATCH per risk indicator; (d) risks identified based on the application of the Union criteria referred to in Article 31 of this Regulation and of additional national criteria if notified to the Commission in accordance with Article 17(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008; (e) outcomes of the verification activities carried out to address identified risks in accordance with Article 17(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008; (f) verifications carried out in accordance with Article 17(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008; (g) verifications carried out at random in accordance with Article 17(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008. 3. On the basis of those reports and its own observations, the Commission shall undertake an evaluation and possible adjustment of the Union criteria.’ ; (9) Article 33 is deleted; (10) Article 36 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 36 Protection and processing of personal data 1. Regulations (EU) 2016/679 and (EU) 2018/1725 as well as the national provisions transposing Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( *2 ) , apply to the processing of personal data carried out pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 and this Regulation by Member States, the Commission or the body designated by it. 2. The rights of persons with regard to their personal data processed in national systems shall be exercised in accordance with the law of the Member State which stored their personal data, and in particular the provisions implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/679, and, with regard to their personal data processed in Union systems, shall be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. 3. The Commission or the body designated by it and Member States may process the personal data of natural persons, in order to fulfil their duties under the rules of the common fisheries policy, in particular for carrying out verifications and enquiries pursuant to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, or under the rules of agreements with third countries or international organisations. 4. The Commission may restrict certain of the rights of data subjects in the context of the processing of personal data by the Commission in the Union system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, in line with the Commission Decision (EU) 2019/1862 of 6 November 2019. ( *2 ) Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Council Framework Decision 2008/977/JHA ( OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 89 , ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2016/680/oj ).’;" (11) Article 37 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 37 Use of information and protection of professional and commercial secrecy 1. Member States and the Commission shall take all necessary steps to ensure that data covered by professional and commercial secrecy that are collected, received and transmitted within the framework of this Regulation are treated in accordance with applicable rules on professional and commercial secrecy. 2. Data referred to in paragraph 1 exchanged between Member States and the Commission may be transmitted to persons other than those in Member States or the Commission or the body designated by it, provided their functions require them to have access to such data and with the consent of the Member State or the Commission or the body designated by it which has provided those data. In the case of a refusal, the Member State, the Commission or the body designated by it shall provide the reasons for refusal to transmit the data. The absence of a reply to a request for consent within a period of one month shall be regarded as consent. 3. The data referred to in paragraph 1 shall not be used for any purpose other than that provided for in this Regulation, except with the consent of the Member State, the Commission or the body designated by it which has provided those data and on condition that the provisions in force in the Member State of the authority receiving the data do not prohibit such use. In the case of a refusal, the Member State, the Commission or the body designated by it shall provide the reasons for refusal.’ ; (12) Reference to Article 42(1)(b) and (c) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 throughout Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009 shall be replaced by reference to Article 42 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008; (13) Annex IIA and Annex IIB are replaced by the text in Annex I to this Regulation; (14) Annex IV is replaced by the text in Annex II to this Regulation; (15) Annex V is replaced by the text in Annex III to this Regulation; (16) Annex IX is deleted.