Conservation of fishery resources: catch documentation programme for bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus

The European Parliament adopted by 667 votes to 3, with 2 abstentions, amendments to the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a catch documentation programme for bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) and repealing Regulation (EU) No 640/2010.

The matter was referred back to the committee responsible for interinstitutional negotiations.

This proposal lays down the rules of the Union bluefin tuna catch documentation programme to implement the conservation and management measures adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas relating to bluefin tuna catch documentation programme and the mandatory use of the electronic bluefin tuna catch documentation system with a view to identifying the origin of all bluefin tuna.

Under the proposal, the recording and validation of catches and subsequent commercial operations concerning bluefin tuna would be carried out by means of an electronic bluefin tuna catch documentation system (eBCD), which has been operational since 2017 and is already used by Member States and operators. In exceptional cases, the electronic system could be replaced by paper documents (the BCD, or bluefin tuna catch document), equivalent to the requirements of the electronic system.

In addition, the proposal:

- lays down general provisions on the use of bluefin catch and re-export certificates and sets rules for the recording and validation of catch and subsequent trade events of bluefin tuna. Particular rules are set for tagged fish;

- introduces additional provisions on verification before validation, transmission of data from eBCD users, the use of paper eBCD in exceptional cases and annual reporting to ICCAT;

- proposes to make greater use of delegated acts in the future to amendment the basic act.

The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in relation to the amendment of the Regulation on the mandatory use of eBCD and BCD, rules on grouped BCD, validations of BCD and eBCD, derogation for tagging information in relation to minimum size, recording and validation of catch and subsequent trades in the eBCD system, information concerning validation and points of contact, information concerning BCD documents or printed eBCD, reporting dates.

Parliament proposed to introduce in the proposed regulation a new annex listing the annexes to the ICCAT recommendations to which the present regulation now refers.

The Commission should adopt, no later than six months after the date of entry into force of the proposed Regulation, a delegated act supplementing the Regulation with the provisions of the Annexes to the ICCAT recommendations listed in the Annex to this Regulation. The Commission may adopt delegated acts to amend this delegated act at a later stage.