Digitising the control of fishery product imports

The report finds a significant lack of a level playing field in the EU, with 13 Member States still relying on entirely paper-based processes for verifying catch certificates (CCs). While some states have developed national IT tools, these cannot detect the 'overuse' of CCs across different EU entry points. The European Commission's CATCH system is designed to provide a centralised EU-wide database to prevent fraud and harmonise risk analysis, but as of June 2021, no Member State was actively operating the first version due to a lack of legal requirements and data input from third countries. The report recommends that the Commission make CATCH mandatory, improve its interoperability with national systems, and develop tools to monitor trade flow variations to identify potential IUU fishing loopholes.

• There is a stark disparity in the digitalisation of import controls across the EU; 13 Member States use fully paper-based processes, while another 13 have implemented some form of IT tool.
• National IT systems are unable to detect the fraudulent reuse of the same catch certificate to import different consignments through multiple EU entry points, a vulnerability known as 'overuse'.
• The European Commission's CATCH system aims to create a single EU-wide database to enable real-time monitoring, reduce administrative burdens, and ensure that products rejected at one entry point cannot enter the EU through another.
• As of the report's publication, no Member State was using the first version of CATCH, primarily because there were no legal requirements for authorities or operators to do so and third-country data was not yet integrated.
• A case study of Spain's SIGCPI system shows it is a highly developed national tool with automatic alerts for IUU vessels and previously used certificates, but it lacks the EU-wide connectivity provided by CATCH.
• Analysis of trade flows suggests that operators may exploit EU borders with weaker controls, as evidenced by abnormal import peaks in countries like Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, and France following 'yellow carding' decisions for certain exporting nations.
• To achieve a fully paperless environment, the report argues that third-country administrations and exporters must be encouraged to issue catch certificates directly in digital format into the CATCH system.

APA

Libioulle, J. (2021). Digitising the control of fishery product imports. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/umnbgg5s/eu-catch-system-report-clientearth-2021-jt.pdf

Chicago

Libioulle, J.M. Digitising the control of fishery product imports. ClientEarth, 2021. https://www.clientearth.org/media/umnbgg5s/eu-catch-system-report-clientearth-2021-jt.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Libioulle |first1=J.M |title=Digitising the control of fishery product imports |publisher=ClientEarth |date=June 2021 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/umnbgg5s/eu-catch-system-report-clientearth-2021-jt.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{libioulle2021digitising, author = {Libioulle, J.M}, title = {{Digitising the control of fishery product imports}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/umnbgg5s/eu-catch-system-report-clientearth-2021-jt.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }