The Spanish system for digitalisation of fish imports: SIGCPI

The report examines Spain's SIGCPI system, a digital tool introduced in 2010 to manage fish import requests and digitise catch certificate (CC) data. While SIGCPI allows for 100% documentary checks of CCs and processing statements (PS), it lacks automated risk analysis and connectivity with other EU Member States, leaving a gap where the same CC could be used for multiple imports across different countries. The document recommends that Spain voluntarily adopt the EU's CATCH system, built on TRACES.NT, to enable EU-wide data cross-referencing and standardised risk analysis, thereby reducing fraud and IUU fishing.

• The Spanish SIGCPI system, introduced in 2010, digitises the 'request for import' and the data within the CC, but it does not digitise the CC itself, meaning these documents remain paper-based even when originating from countries with digital systems.
• SIGCPI lacks an automated risk analysis tool and does not connect with databases from other EU Member States or third countries, which limits its ability to prevent the same CC from being used for different imports in different Member States.
• The General Secretariat of Fisheries (GSF) uses SIGCPI to perform documentary checks on 100% of import authorisation applications, using a mandatory checklist as a first filter for risk analysis.
• The European Commission has launched CATCH, an IT system built on TRACES.NT, to centralise CC information and automate verification; the Commission has proposed making its use mandatory for Member States and economic operators.

APA

Noval, N., & Marchais, Q. (2021). The Spanish system for digitalisation of fish imports: SIGCPI. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/io0f5hzs/public-version-the-spanish-system-for-digitalisation-of-fish-imports-sigcpi.pdf

Chicago

Noval, Nieves, and Quentin Marchais. The Spanish system for digitalisation of fish imports: SIGCPI. ClientEarth, 2021. https://www.clientearth.org/media/io0f5hzs/public-version-the-spanish-system-for-digitalisation-of-fish-imports-sigcpi.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Noval |first1=Nieves |last2=Marchais |first2=Quentin |title=The Spanish system for digitalisation of fish imports: SIGCPI |publisher=ClientEarth |date=January 2021 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/io0f5hzs/public-version-the-spanish-system-for-digitalisation-of-fish-imports-sigcpi.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{noval2021spanish, author = {Noval, Nieves and Marchais, Quentin}, title = {{The Spanish system for digitalisation of fish imports: SIGCPI}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/io0f5hzs/public-version-the-spanish-system-for-digitalisation-of-fish-imports-sigcpi.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }