Use of Agents
7. It is always the importer's responsibility to submit the catch certificate(s) for a particular consignment.
8. In practice, some catch certificates are likely to be submitted by agents on behalf of the importer. It is acceptable for the agent to complete section 11 of the catch certificate on the importer's behalf.
Submission of Multiple Catch Certificates
9. In advance of submitting the catch certificates to UK Port Health the importer must complete the declaration at section 11 of the catch certificate, sign and stamp it.
10. It is likely that multiple catch certificates (i.e. fish caught by a number of different vessels) will accompany some consignments. In such cases we have decided to simplify the burden on both the importer and Port Health by introducing a Multiple Certificate Summary Document. This would only require the importer to complete the declaration once, but list the catch certificates that accompany the consignment. The use of this document is voluntary and is at the discretion of each importer. However, you must ensure that EITHER Section 11 of each catch certificate OR the Summary Document is completed.
11. A template of the Multiple Certificate Summary Document is available online.
12. It is important to note that if you or another operator intend to re-export the products outside the EU, in the same form (i.e. without further processing) this summary document must be submitted along with the relevant catch certificates for re-export validation (see paragraph 70 on re-exports).
Excluded Products
13. There are a number of exemptions to the Regulation:
- Fish caught before 1 January 2010 will not require a catch certificate, even if it is imported into the UK after this date. See paragraph 33 below.
- Excluded products (e.g. freshwater fish, aquaculture products obtained from fry or larvae, ornamental fish and certain molluscs) will not require catch certificates. The full list of excluded products can be found at Annex XIII of Commission Regulation 1010/2009 (see link below):
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:280:0005:0041:EN:PDF
14. The list of excluded products, with relevant tariff codes, will be updated by a further Commission Regulation which is due to be published in early 2010. A link to this regulation will be placed on the Defra IUU webpage when it is available.