IUU Information for Importers
Imports of fish or fishery produce, from a third country (a country that is not an EU Member State), with a commodity code listed under Chapter 3 or Headings 1604/1605 of the Combined Nomenclature, will be subject to IUU controls and will require IUU clearance from the SFPA.
Importers or importer representatives are required to provide all required documentation necessary for IUU clearance. Import documentation must be uploaded to the INIS Portal, the documents will then be transferred to the AFIT portal for review by SFPA staff.
Notification periods for imports of fish or fishery products:
- Sea Freight (UK) – Minimum 24 hours’ notice
- Sea Freight (Third Countries excluding UK) – Minimum 3 working days’ notice
- Air Freight – Minimum 4 hours’ notice
The notice periods are the minimum notice periods, as much notice as possible should be given to avoid any delays with the verification process. Please note a past arrival date can not be entered on the CATCH system.
CATCH System
The use of CATCH will be compulsory for EU importers for the submission of the catch certificates and related documents for the import of fish or fishery products listed under Chapter 3 and Headings 1604/1605 subject to IUU controls from the 10th January 2026.
CATCH is an EU IT system for the management of all procedures linked to the EU catch certification scheme. It is a web-based digital environment that is part of TRACES NT. It allows the submission of all catch certificates and related documents accompanying the fishery products to be imported into the EU in accordance with the EU IUU Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008) as amended by Art 4 of 2023/2842. Article 4 provides a legislative basis for the establishment and functioning of the CATCH system.
The main objective of CATCH is to streamline the catch certification process and all linked procedures and to offer a fully digitised and paperless workflow. It facilitates the exchange of data, information and documents between all involved parties and control authorities and therefore simplifies and speeds up the administrative procedures.
CATCH is intended to improve the effectiveness of the EU IUU catch certification scheme by ensuring a centralised digital management environment with the objective to identify and prohibit importation into the EU of fishery products obtained from IUU fishing. CATCH offers the possibility to generate, validate and submit catch certificates and/or related documents by non-EU countries’ operators and authorities. CATCH enhances cooperation and coordination between the competent authorities of the EU Member States and between economic operators and their competent authorities.
The main objectives of CATCH are:
- to allow for the detection of fraudulent catch certificates;
- to prevent overuse of catch certificates through quantity management when catch certificates are used several times in relation to different consignments destined to the EU market;
- to support risk management applied to official controls;
- to harmonise the documentary workflows.
From 10 January 2026 the importers of fishery products in the EU will have to submit the catch certificates and related documents to the authorities in the Member States through CATCH.
Please note the use of the new CATCH system will be used in addition to the existing import process. The importer is required to upload a copy of the CATCH Importer Declaration with all other IUU documents to the INIS Portal.
The new system is only to be used for wild caught produce subject to the catch certification scheme, there is no change to the process for imports of exempt produce listed under EC Reg 202/2011 (aquaculture, freshwater species).
Direct Importation
Documentation required will vary depending on the produce to be imported.
Wild caught fish or fishery produce to be imported where no processing has taken place
- CATCH Importer Declaration
- Catch Certificate
- Bill of Lading
- Commercial Invoice
- Health Certificate
- Certificate of Origin
- Statistical Documents (Big Eyed Tuna/Swordfish imports only)
- Any other consignment specific documentation
Wild caught fish or fishery produce to be imported where processing has taken place (regardless of where the processing has taken place)
- CATCH Importer Declaration
- Catch Certificate
- Processing Statement* (see below note)
- Bill of Lading
- Commercial Invoice
- Health Certificate
- Certificate of Origin
- Statistical Documents (Big Eyed Tuna/Swordfish imports only)
Any other consignment specific documentation
The amendment to the IUU Regulation 2842/2023 introduces an important change concerning the use of the processing statement (Annex IV) that will apply from 10 January 2026. To improve traceability, processing statements will be required for fishery products processed on land and imported into the EU, regardless of where the processing has taken place, in the flag State or in another non-EU country. This means that processing statements will be required even in cases where the flag State of the fishing vessels that caught the fish and the country where the processing operation took place are the same.
A processing statement (Annex IV) will be required for processing operations carried out on fishery products after landing in approved establishments. Processing operations requiring a processing statement (Annex IV) include cutting, filleting, canning, smoking, salting, cooking, pickling, drying or preparing fish for market in any other manner. Fishery products subject only to freezing and/or packing will not require a processing statement (Annex IV).
In the case of fishery products which are subject to more than one processing operation in the same country or in a different country, a processing statement (Annex IV) is required for each processing operation.
Wild caught fish or fishery produce to be imported where the produce has been stored in a third country
- CATCH Importer Declaration
- Catch Certificate
- Processing Statement* (see below note)
- Bill of Lading
- Commercial Invoice
- Health Certificate
- Certificate of Origin
- Statistical Documents (Big Eyed Tuna/Swordfish imports only)
- Any other consignment specific documentation
The amended regulation also introduces the use of a non-manipulation document where a consignment has not undergone any operations other than unloading, reloading or any operation designed to preserve them in good and genuine condition and that they remained under the surveillance of the competent authorities in that non-EU country. Such evidence must be provided as follows:
- if the consignment is not split in that non-EU country, a single transport document issued to cover the passage through that non-EU country from the territory of the flag State or the State in which processing takes place, will be required.
- if the consignment is split in different sub-consignments in that non-EU country, a non-manipulation document validated by the competent authorities of that country will be required for each sub-consignment.
Fish or fishery produce exempt from the catch certificate scheme
Certain fish or fishery products are excluded from the definition of fishery produce as outlined in IUU Regulation 1005/2008 (eg. Aquaculture, Fresh Water Species).
A detailed list of excluded products can be found here.
- Bill of Lading
- Commercial Invoice
- Health Certificate
- Certificate of Origin
- Any other consignment specific documentation
CATCH – Third Country Direct Use
Some third countries are using CATCH directly; this means that catch certificates and other related IUU documents will already be available in CATCH. In such cases the importer is not required to enter these certificates. The Re-Use workflow should be used where the third country is using CATCH directly.
The EU Commission continues to work with third country competent authorities to use the CATCH system directly for IUU documentation. The below website can be checked to see if the third country is using the CATCH system directly, this website will be updated with any new third countries that are using CATCH directly.
Interoperability & Access to CATCH
Original Documents
Original paper documents including Catch Certificates, Annex IV Processing Statements or Storage Documents, must be submitted to the IUU office. Importer declarations must be completed by the importer or importer representative prior to submission.
Certificates created directly in the CATCH system do not need to be submitted to the IUU office.
Documents should be sent to:
IUU Office,
Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority,
National Seafood Centre,
Clogheen,
Clonakilty,
Co. Cork
It is important to note that IUU verification checks completed by the SFPA must be completed prior to the health and veterinary checks completed by Border Control Post staff. Provision of IUU clearance does not guarantee that the fish or fishery produce being imported will clear BCP checks.
Contact
Email: iuuoffice@sfpa.ie
Phone: +353 85 747 6298