Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishery Products

The IUU Regulation applies to marine caught fishery products.

Freshwater and farmed (aquaculture) fish and marine fish imported for ornamental purposes fall outside of the scope of the Regulation (see Regulation 1005/2008, Annex I https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2008/1005/annex/I

Products made up of fish and other ingredients may be covered by the Regulation. If the product falls under CN Code 03, 1604 or 1605, a catch certificate, along with other supporting documentation, will be required. This applies where there is any wild caught fish content greater than 20%.

You may be asked to provide written confirmation from HMRC Tariff Classification team https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ask-hmrc-for-advice-on-classifying-your-goods of the commodity code for your goods.

Importers are required to notify Port Health of the intended arrival of the consignment two working hours prior to arrival.

Our office hours are Monday to Friday 09:00 – 17:00.

For example, if you have a consignment which is due to arrive on Saturday at 13:00, this would need to be pre-notified by 15:00 on Friday, before the consignment is landed.

The importer or agent on their behalf will be required to complete an IUU pre-notification on PHILIS DES. If you don't have an account with PHILIS then you will need to register, please see our pre notification page for more information.

Supporting documentation (catch certificate, sea waybill, invoice, packing list etc.) can be attached to the pre-notification or e-mailed to porthealth@dover.gov.uk.

Products made up of fish and other ingredients may be covered by the Regulation. If the product falls under CN Code 03, 1604 or 1605, a catch certificate will be required. This applies where there is any wild caught fish content greater than 20%.

You may be asked to provide written confirmation from HMRC Tariff Classification team https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ask-hmrc-for-advice-on-classifying-your-goods of the commodity code for your goods.

When Port Health are completing IUU checks on a consignment, there are certain documents that we will need to see to be able to endorse the catch certificates and release the consignment.

These are:

Copy of Original catch certificate(s)

Required when the country exporting the fish is the same as the country the fishing vessel is flagged to (this may be a printed electronic version dependant on the country issuing the catch certificate, e.g. Norway).

Importer’s declaration: All Copies of catch certificates submitted must have the Importer’s declaration section completed by the importer or their representative.  Please ensure all sections are completed: Name & Address, Signature, Date, CN code and company stamp.

When presenting more than one catch certificate, as an alternative a Multiple Catch Certificate Summary Document can be downloaded, completed, signed and submitted with the catch certificate documentation. To download a copy see useful downloads on this page.

Copy of processing statement (Annex IV)

Required when the fishery product(s) are processed (before export) in a country that is not the same as the flag state of the catching vessel. This must be endorsed by the competent authority in the country of processing.

Copy of storage document

Required when the fish is stored (before export) in a country that is not the same as the flag state of the catching vessel and/or processing country.

Copy commercial documents

T1/CMR, invoice and packing list. These should refer to the import into Great Britain.

In the case of fish caught by a third country vessel and exported to EU, subsequently repacked or processed in different EU Member States, and a share of this fish is re-exported to the UK, are the EU Member States responsible for documentation with regards to Article 14 (1) and (2) of the UK IUU legislation? Where can these documents be found?

The UK IUU legislation mirrors Article 14 (1) and 14 (2) of the EU IUU Regulation, and the UK provides a template for the processing statement and storage document. As regards Article 14 (1) of the UK IUU Regulation (reference to storage document) where fishery products are stored prior to being exported from the EU into the UK, importers need to provide documentary evidence, issued by the competent authority of that (EU) Member State, as required in accordance with article 14 (1) (b). Any documented evidence that the fishery products did not undergo operations other than unloading, reloading or any operation designed to preserve them in good condition, and remained under the surveillance of the competent authorities, can be submitted to UK competent authorities. This could also be in the form of a storage document. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/import-fish-from-the-eu-from-1-january-2021

UK is asking for Annex IV and storage document to Member States under UK legislation. Should each Member State draw up their own ones?

Any document complying with the template of Annex IV provided by the UK could be used (in EN). As regards Article 14 (1) of the UK IUU legislation (reference to storage), where fishery products are stored prior to being exported from the EU into the UK, importers will need to provide documented evidence, issued by the competent authority of the EU Member State, as required in Article 14 (1) (b) of the UK legislation. Any documented evidence that the fishery products did not undergo operations other than unloading, reloading or any operation designed to preserve them in good condition, and remained under the surveillance of the competent authorities, can be submitted to UK competent authorities. This could also be in the form of a storage document using the format provided by UK or any other form that fulfils the latter.

All imports will be subjected to a documentary check to ensure that the catch certificate and associated paperwork relates to the consignment and that it is valid. The catch certificate format will be checked along with the stamps and signatures of the Flag State. Vessels will be checked against the list of known IUU vessels (vessels previously found to have been engaged in illegal fishing activities). Further checks may be carried out on catch areas and Regional Fishery Management Organisation information, where applicable.

Where there may be a discrepancy between the catch certificate and associated paperwork, additional checks may be undertaken on the consignment, in line with current government guidelines.

Satisfactory Checks

Upon satisfactory completion of the IUU checks, the paperwork will be signed and stamped by the Port Health Authority and returned to the agent. The agent will need to submit a copy of the endorsed catch certificate to HMRC, to enable the consignment to be released.

Unsatisfactory Checks

If significant issues are discovered during IUU checks, which are in breach of the Regulations, a referral to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) will be made.

Products failing to satisfy import conditions may be re-exported to a country outside the UK (provided the receiving country competent authority is in agreement). If the consignment is deemed to have been fished illegally it could be confiscated or destroyed (at a cost to the importer).

Since 1 January 2021, EU origin marine caught fishery products which are imported into Great Britain fall within the scope of the IUU Regulations.

There currently is not an IUU Customs hold on consignments of fish from the EU covered by the IUU requirements. The only exception to this is for imports of Bluefin Tuna and Antarctic and Patagonian Toothfish, which will be subject to a Customs hold. These species must be accompanied with a statistical document.

Importers will still need to pre-notify Dover Port Health of EU origin marine caught fishery imports two working hours in advance and submit their IUU documents, in-line with the IUU Regulations.

Imports from non-EU countries will continue to have a Customs hold on fish products.

Fees are payable for checking documentation and examination or sampling consignments should it prove necessary.

Our current fees and charges can be found on our Port Health charges page.

Please email porthealth@dover.gov.uk to set up a payment account prior to the arrival of an import.