Commission Regulation (EC) No 1303/2007 of 5 November 2007 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1966/2006 on electronic recording and reporting of fishing activities and on means of remote sensing

This Regulation shall apply to:

Notwithstanding paragraph 1(a), this Regulation shall apply as from a date earlier than 1 January 2010 to Community fishing vessels flying the flag of a given Member State and exceeding 24 metres length overall, if it is so provided by that State.

Notwithstanding paragraph 1(b), this Regulation shall apply as from a date earlier than 1 July 2011 to Community fishing vessels flying the flag of a given Member State and exceeding 15 metres length overall, if it is so provided by that State.

Notwithstanding the dates laid down in paragraphs 1(a) and 1(b), a Member State may decide to apply this regulation to vessels of 15 metres or less flying its flag prior to those dates in accordance with Article 3, paragraph 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1966/2006.

Member States may conclude bilateral agreements on the use of electronic reporting systems on vessels flying their flags within the waters under their sovereignty or jurisdiction on condition that the vessels comply with all rules laid down in this regulation.

This Regulation shall apply to Community fishing vessels regardless of the waters or ports they are carrying out fishing operations in.

This Regulation shall not apply to Community fishing vessels used exclusively for exploitation of aquaculture.

Each Member State shall establish a list of registered buyers, registered auctions or other entities or persons that it has authorised and that are responsible for the first sale of fishery products with an annual financial turnover of fishery products in excess EUR 400 000. The first reference year shall be 2007 and the list shall be updated on 1 January of the current year (year n) on the basis of the annual financial turnover of fishery products in excess of EUR 400 000 in year n–2. That list shall be published on an official website of the Member State.

Each Member State shall establish and periodically update lists of Community fishing vessels flying its flag to which the provisions of this regulation apply in accordance with Article 1 paragraphs 3, 4, 5 and 6. The lists shall be published on an official website of the Member State and shall be in the format to be decided in consultations between the Member States and the Commission.

Masters of Community fishing vessels shall transmit logbook and transhipment data by electronic means to the competent authorities of the flag Member State.

Masters of Community fishing vessels or their representatives shall transmit landing declaration data by electronic means to the competent authorities of the flag State.

When a Community fishing vessel lands its catch in a Member State other than the flag Member State, the competent authorities of the flag Member States shall immediately upon receipt forward the landing declaration data by electronic means to the competent authorities of the Member State where the catch was landed.

Masters of Community fishing vessels shall, where required under Community rules, transmit by electronic means to the competent authority of the flag Member State prior notification of entry into port at the time that it is required to be transmitted.

When a vessel intends to enter a port in a Member State other than the flag Member State, the competent authorities of the flag Member State shall immediately upon receipt forward the prior notification referred to in paragraph 4 by electronic means to the competent authorities of the coastal Member State.

Registered buyers, registered auctions or other entities or persons authorised by Member States, that are responsible for the first sale of fishery products shall transmit information required to be recorded in a sales note by electronic means to the competent authorities of the Member State in whose territory the first marketing takes place.

When the first marketing takes place in a Member State other than the flag Member State, the competent authorities of the Member State where the first marketing takes place shall ensure that a copy of the sales notes data is submitted by electronic means to the competent authorities of the flag Member State on receipt of relevant information.

Where the first marketing of fisheries products does not take place in the Member State where the products have been landed, the Member State where the first marketing takes place shall ensure that a copy of the sales note data is submitted by electronic means immediately on receipt of relevant information, to the following authorities:

The holder of the take-over declaration shall transmit by electronic means the information required to be recorded in a take-over declaration to the competent authorities of the Member State in whose territory the take-over physically takes place.

The master shall transmit the electronic logbook information to the competent authorities of the flag Member State at least on a daily basis not later than 24.00 hours even when there are no catches. He shall also send such data:

The master may transmit corrections to the electronic logbook and transhipment declarations up to the last transmission made at the end of the fishing trip and before entering into port. Corrections shall be easily identifiable. All original electronic logbook data and corrections to those data shall be stored by the competent authorities of the flag Member State.

The master or his representatives shall transmit the landing declaration by electronic means immediately after the landing declaration has been established.

The master of the donor vessel and the receiving vessel shall transmit transhipment data by electronic means immediately after the transhipment.

The master shall keep a copy of the information referred to in paragraph 1 on board the fishing vessel for the duration of each fishing trip until the landing declaration has been submitted.

A Member State may exempt masters of vessels flying its flag from the obligations referred to in Article 4, paragraph 1, when they carry out fishing trips of 24 hours or less within the waters under its sovereignty or jurisdiction on condition that they do not land their catch outside the territory of the flag Member State.

Masters of Community fishing vessels shall be exempt from the obligation to complete paper logbook, landing and transhipment declarations.

Masters of Community vessels, or their representatives, that land their catch in a Member State other than the flag Member State shall be exempt from the requirement to submit a paper landing declaration to the coastal Member State.

Member States may conclude bilateral agreements on the use of electronic reporting systems on vessels flying their flags within the waters under their sovereignty or jurisdiction. The vessels falling within the scope of such agreements shall be exempt from completing a paper logbook within those waters.

Masters of Community vessels that record in their electronic logbooks the fishing effort information required under Article 19b of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 shall be exempt from the obligation to transmit effort reports by telex, by VMS, by fax, by telephone or by radio.

In the event of a technical failure or non-functioning of the electronic recording and reporting system the master or the owner of the vessel or their representative shall communicate logbook, landing declaration and transhipment data to the competent authorities of the flag Member State in a way established by the flag Member State on a daily basis and no later than 24.00 hours even when there are no catches:

The competent authorities of the flag Member State shall update the electronic logbook immediately on receipt of the data referred to in paragraph 1.

A Community fishing vessel shall not leave a port, following a technical failure or non-functioning of its electronic recording and reporting system before it is functioning to the satisfaction of the competent authorities of the flag Member State or before it is otherwise authorised to leave by the competent authorities of the flag Member State. The flag Member State shall immediately notify the coastal Member State when it has authorised a vessel flying its flag to leave a port in the coastal Member State.

When the competent authorities of a flag Member State have not received data transmissions in accordance with Article 4, paragraphs 1 and 2 they shall notify the master or the owner of the vessel or their representative thereof as soon as possible. If, in respect of a particular vessel, this situation occurs more than three times within a period of one year, the flag Member State shall ensure that the electronic reporting system in question is checked. The Member State concerned shall investigate the matter in order to determine why data have not been received.

When the competent authorities of a flag Member State have not received data transmissions in accordance with Article 4, paragraph 1 and 2 and the last position received through the Vessel Monitoring System was from within the waters of a coastal Member State they shall notify the competent authorities of that coastal Member State thereof as soon as possible.

The master or the owner of the vessel or their representative shall send all data for which a notification was received in accordance with paragraph 1 to the competent authorities of the flag Member State immediately on receipt of the notification.