General rules
Article 56
1. Exchange of all messages shall be based on the UN/FLUX standard provided by the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT). The report formats to be used for each data domain shall be based on the relevant UN/FLUX domain standards as referred to in Annex XVII. 2. When exchanging messages for each data domain, Member States, and where applicable the Commission and EFCA shall use the report formats based on the relevant UN/FLUX domain standards as referred to in Annex XVII. They shall use the applicable XSD (XML Schema Definition) files, as well as the code lists and codes available on the Master Data Register page of the European Commission Fisheries website for all messages. 3. Member States, the Commission, and EFCA shall use the latest implementation documents available on the European Commission Fisheries website to exchange messages. 4. Member States, the Commission, and EFCA shall ensure that all transmitted reports and messages have a unique identifier. All reported dates and times shall be transmitted in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). 5. When reports include information on Union fishing vessels, the CFR number shall be included in all transmissions of data between the Member State and the Commission concerning the fishing vessel, as required by Article 8(4) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/218. 6. Without prejudice to obligations under other Union legal acts, Member States shall: (a) ensure that data received according to this Chapter are recorded in electronic-readable form and safely stored in electronic databases for at least three years unless otherwise provided under the rules of the common fisheries policy or where retention is necessary for inspections, verifications, audits, and enquiries, including those pertaining to complaints and infringements, or judicial or administrative proceedings; (b) take all necessary measures to ensure that the data are only used for purposes as provided for in this Regulation; and (c) take all necessary technical measures to protect such data against any accidental or illicit destruction, accidental loss, deterioration, distribution or unauthorised access. 7. The Commission shall ensure that EFCA has access, as appropriate, to all data transmitted by Member States under this Chapter. This provision is without prejudice to Member States’ obligations to exchange data electronically with EFCA where required under other Union legal acts.