U.S. Implementation of EC IUU Regulation

1. U.S. Implementation of EC IUU Regulation Tim Hansen James Appel Linda Chaves

2. What is IUU? • - Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated fishing • - IUU practices are valued at approximately $15 Billion annually, globally (Oceanic Development Study, 2007) • - IUU fishing represents 19% of worldwide reported catch value (Oceanic Development Study, 2007) • - EC imports of IUU products are estimated at $ 1.6 Billion annually (Oceanic Development Study, 2007)

3. IUU Fishing Impacts • Environmental Impacts • Depletion of fish stocks and future stock growth • Marine environment and ecosystem damaged by overfishing and irresponsible fishing practices and techniques • Threat to sustainable exploitation and marine biodiversity • Socioeconomic Impacts • Legal catches reduced • Unfair competition between legal and illegal operators • Overall market prices reduced • Coastal communities dependent on fishing, especially in developing countries, can be harmed

4. Top 2008 U.S. Seafood Export Destinations • EU: • - Largest direct export destination • - Significant secondary export destination • - Potential to become even larger Total Exports: $4.3 Billion Source: U.S. Customs, USITC

5. Top U.S. Export Species to the EU, 2008 $Million Source: U.S. Customs, USITC

6. The IUU Regulation: EC 1005/2008 • - Passed September 29, 2008 • - Entered into force January 1, 2010 for harvests beginning January 1, 2010 • - Applies to all wild fisheries products harvested by EC fishermen and all imports (with minor exceptions – e.g. scallops, oysters, freshwater fish) • - All fisheries products entering the EC, whether landed or imported, require a “Catch Certification” document • - Catch Certification documents must be validated by the Competent Authority of the fishing vessel’s flag state • - The regulation allows for the development of an alternate certificate to the one in the regulation

7. U.S. Certification • NOAA Fisheries Service negotiated an alternate Catch Certificate • NOAA Fisheries Service and Seafood Inspection Program (SIP) are the U.S. Competent Authority • SIP currently issues all health certificates for all seafood exports • Catch certificates to be requested on-line, when requesting EC health certificate • Catch certificate will attest that products have been harvested in compliance with Federal and State fisheries management and conservation regulations • Each Catch Certificate will accommodate up to 5 species • SIP will cooperate with EC to authenticate certificates to reduce fraud • NOAA Fisheries will conduct audits of companies’ ability to trace product back to origin • Catch Certificate fee will be $20 initially

8. Location of U.S. Exporters to the EC 38 68 5 1 19 112 6 24 10 2 14 5 10 2 1 2 6 18 1 16 1 77 8 3 2 4 6 7 5 11 49 6 53 10 Source: FDA

9. U.S. 2008 Seafood Exports to the EU, By Export Districts $ Million Source: U.S. Customs, USITC

10. Principal Species Exported through NW & AK Port Districts, 2008 Total: $687 Million

11. Principal Species Exported to the EU through NE Port Districts, 2008

12. Exporter Requirements • - Purchase and export only legally harvested and documented products; that were caught in accordance with applicable state and federal laws and management measures • Obtain a validated catch certificate for all marine fishery products exported to the EU, including processed products, (with minor exceptions) • Request catch certificates electronically from the NOAA Fisheries Seafood Inspection Program • Send validated certificates electronically to the EU importer prior to product arrival in the EU • Retain records on product provenance for three years • Comply with SIP audit requests and procedures

13. Requesting an IUU Certificate • - New inspection accounts are requested of and approved by Inspection personnel usually within a few hours. • - Once an account is set up, requests for certificates are made through the web and reviewed by Inspection personnel usually the same day. • - Certificates are signed electronically. • - Once approved, IUU certificates are emailed back to requestor. • - IUU Certificates can be requested in conjunction with EU Export Health Certificate, other country health certificate, or as a stand alone • - User guide with detailed instructions will be on the Seafood Inspection Webpage.

14. Documentation Requirements SIP Catch Certificate www.seafood.noaa.gov US - Caught US Exporter EU Importer Annex IV Certificate Issued by China SIP Issued Catch Certificate (e.g., China) Foreign Caught US Importer US Exporter SIP Issued Annex IV Certificate Foreign Government Catch Certificate EU Importer

18. Status • System is working (with minor glitches) • No product refused entry • EU Member States still learning • Have already issued 500+ “letters”, certificates, Annex IV • What we’ve learned • - Requirements for product harvested prior to 2010 • Certification NOT an EC requirement • Will issue letter or cert • Demands for hard copy a requirement for EU fleet, but not for us • Technical challenges • DSFA/PDF

19. IT Challenges • New system for NMFS • Bugs not all worked out yet • Browser compatibility issues • Initial Passwords • Species list • Product descriptions • Timing out • Naming “saved” certificates • Ability to “edit” products

20. Enhancements: Coming Soon! • Ability to edit products • Third-party billing • Time-out warnings • Supersede requests • Ability to request any certificate from the program • Searching and sorting capabilities • All billing to be done through system • Ability to link bills to certificates • Custom reports • What else would you like???

21. Other Issues • Cold storage holdings in China and Korea • US-Russia • FDA import alert re China • US regulations regarding US imports and IUU

22. For More Information: • http://www.seafood.nmfs.noaa.gov Thank you!