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Collection

Marine and fisheries: exiting the EU

Directorate
Marine Scotland Directorate
Part of
Brexit, Marine and fisheries

Marine and fisheries Information about exiting the European Union.

Introduction

The UK's withdrawal from the European Union will lead to some of the most significant changes to the UK, and Scotland, political and economic landscape in decades. Although relations with the European Union are a reserved matter, the consequences of leaving the EU will be felt in a large range of devolved areas, and the Scottish Government therefore has a critical role in ensuring that the devolved settlement is protected and that Scotland's national interests are secured.

Exports of fishery and aquaculture products to European Union and Northern Ireland from 15 January 2022

From 15 January 2022, businesses that export fishery and aquaculture products for human consumption to the European Union (EU) and Northern Ireland (NI) will be required to use new export health certificates (EHCs), which confirm certain requirements, health standards and regulations have been met.

As a result of new EU animal health law coming into force and Great Britain’s status as a third country following EU Exit, there are a number of updates to the new certificates from those previously used by exporters, with the main change being the requirement for certain products to have the EHC certified by an Official Vet rather than a Food Competent Certifying Officer.

It is recommended that businesses familiarise themselves with the full requirements of the new EHCs, available on EHC Online alongside notes for guidance, to check which requirements apply to your products.

Products requiring Official Vet certification

The following products do not require Official Vet certification and can continue to be certified by a Food Competent Certifying Officer:

  • wild caught fish and shellfish landed by a registered fishing vessel
  • any species not listed as susceptible, or as a vector to the diseases listed in the Annex of EU Regulation 2018/1882 (Species are only considered as vectors when they have been in co-habitation with susceptible species of the same disease and when exported live)
  • dead farmed fish not intended for further processing in the EU or NI
  • farmed or hand-collected bivalve molluscs which are no longer live prior to export and are not intended for further processing in the EU or NI
  • farmed or hand collected crustaceans which are no longer live prior to export and are not intended for further processing in the EU or NI
  • echinoderms, tunicates and marine gastropods

The following products will require Official Vet certification:

  • dead farmed fish intended for further processing in the EU or NI, which are listed as a susceptible species
  • farmed or hand-collected live bivalve molluscs, which are listed as a susceptible or vector species
  • farmed or hand-collected dead bivalve molluscs intended for further processing in the EU or NI, which are listed as a susceptible species
  • farmed or hand-collected live crustaceans, which are listed as a susceptible or vector species
  • farmed or hand-collected dead crustaceans intended for further processing in the EU or NI, which are listed as a susceptible species

Other requirements for Official Vet certified products

  • products requiring Official Vet certification which originate from an aquaculture establishment must also demonstrate the aquaculture establishment receives regular animal health visits from a veterinarian (this does not need to be an Official Vet)
  • dead farmed fish which require Official Vet certification and are uneviscerated are also required to undergo a clinical inspection by an Official Vet within 72 hours prior to loading for export.  
  • bivalve molluscs and crustaceans which require Official Vet certification and do not meet any of the following exemptions are required to undergo a clinical inspection by an Official Vet within 72 hours prior to loading for export:  

(a) molluscs and crustaceans which are packaged and labelled for human consumption in accordance with EU Regulation 853/2004 and which are no longer able to survive if returned to the aquatic environment

(b) molluscs and crustaceans intended for human consumption without further processing which are packaged for retail in accordance with EU Regulation 853/2004

(c) molluscs and crustaceans which are packaged and labelled for human consumption in accordance with EU Regulation 853/2004 and are intended for further processing without temporary storage at the place of processing

  • should your product require regular health visits from a vet or clinical inspection by an Official Vet, compliance with those requirements can be evidenced to the certifying Official Vet through the provision of support health attestations signed by the vet that carried out the health visit or clinical inspection

Access to Official Vets and Food Competent Certifying Officers to certify products for export

The export of fishery and aquaculture products is supported by export logistics hubs operated in central Scotland by DFDS, Mesguen and O’Tooles, where Food Standards Scotland Official Vets and Food Competent Certifying Officers are available to certify EHCs. Further information on the export hubs can be found on the Food Standards Scotland website.

Exporters who are unable to use, or choose not to use, one of the existing logistics hubs will still be able to request a signed EHC from their own Local Authority.

More information on the new EHC requirements

The accompanying notes for guidance available on EHC Online provide additional information on the requirements included in the new EHCs. Further advice is also available within the UK Government published Export Health Certificates FAQ.

For any specific queries please contact traders@defra.gov.uk

Latest

Live Bivalve Molluscs, such as cockles, mussels and oysters, which have been harvested from either unclassified, or non-class A waters which cannot be verified by certifying officers, as fit for human consumption at the point of export, cannot be exported to the EU or NI as there is a permanent barrier to trade, and cannot be provided with an EHC.

Exporting to Northern Ireland

Please find UK Government information and guidance for businesses exporting goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland (NI) below:

Fish Export Service

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) launched the Fish Export Service (FES) in November 2020. The latest changes to the Fish Export Service will allow users the ability to void and clone export catch certificates significantly reducing the time it takes to create replacement export documents, while a summer update is expected to include refined flows through FES (moving from the current linear approach to a checklist-based interface), increased and expanded clone functionality to cover processing statements and storage documents, and enhancements relating to the uploading of landing data. More information on the FES is available.

IMO Numbers

If your vessel is 100 gross tons or above, or is 12 metres long or more, you will have to have an IMO number to fish in EU waters. To find out how to obtain an IMO number and register it with the Single Issuing Authority, please visit the UK Government website.

EORI Numbers

In addition, to be able to export seafood to the EU, you will need to have an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number. The process is quick and easy and can be done by visiting the UK Government website.

Seafood Producers Resilience Fund

The Seafood Producers Resilience Fund provided support to eligible shellfish catchers and producers, in addition to trout farmers who had faced issues exporting to the EU and had lost access to domestic food markets as a result of COVID-19. Details of the successful awards are available. 

Advice for fishers

These guidelines are to assist the industry in understanding the additional regulatory requirements resulting from the UK
leaving the EU without an agreement. It will still be necessary for UK vessel Masters and owners to comply with all other regulatory legislative and reporting requirements in addition to licence conditions.

Individuals should consult with the full regulations regarding Catch Certificate reporting requirements. They can be found in Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 with detailed implementing rules being contained in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009.

Catch Certificates are not required for some ‘fishery products’ when importing into the EU.

Excluded fishery products are:

  • freshwater fishery products
  • aquaculture products obtained from fry or larvae
  • ornamental fish
  • some mollusc species and presentations including oysters, scallops and mussels

We advise you to speak to the relevant contacts in your supply chain to confirm understanding and requirements.

Summary of EU Exit preparedness stakeholder meetings

In the build up to EU Exit, Marine Scotland and Food and Drink divisions in the Scottish Government undertook a whole range of events with seafood exporting businesses - and other interested stakeholders - focusing on the regulations, requirements and practical stages that exporting businesses will need to complete to be able to continue to export to the EU. In March and April 2019, 48 exporting businesses were met, in person, throughout Scotland including: Aberdeenshire, Orkney, Scrabster, Skye, Ullapool, Lochinver, Kinlochbervie, Shetland, Mallaig, Clyde, Western Isles and Anstruther.

In October 2019, after the exit day was extended to October 31 2019, there were EU Exit roadshows jointly hosted with Marine Scotland and Food & Drink with further attendance from Seafish, Animal Plant Health Agency, Local Authorities and Scottish Enterprise.

Marine and Seafood Stakeholder Group page

Legislation

When the UK leaves the EU (European Union), there will be some laws and regulations that will no longer apply or work properly. And although Scotland voted to remain in the EU, as a responsible government the Scottish Government must prepare for EU exit. As such, the Scottish government is working alongside the UK government to develop legislation to ensure a functioning statute book and prepare for the UK's new position as a non-EU member. This is done through correcting EU laws and regulations, and some domestic legislation to ensure it all still works properly in a UK only context.

In some cases, the Scottish Government will make laws or regulations for Scotland only to replace certain EU laws. These regulations are called Scottish Statutory Instruments (SSIs).  In other cases, the UK Government will make a Statutory Instrument (SI) which will cover all parts of the UK, including Scotland. When that happens, the Scottish Government must prepare a Protocol Notification to the the Scottish Parliament notifying the Scottish Parliament of its intention to consent to devolved matters being included in the Statutory Instrument. The relevant Parliamentary Committee will then scrutinise Scottish Ministers’ intention to consent. 

Notifications are being prepared for each policy area and describe the legislation impacted, the nature of the deficiencies, the proposed corrections and why these are necessary in the event there is no deal with the EU

So far there have been 4 SSIs and 5 SIs laid in relation to marine fisheries legislation and EU exit.

Public notices

The Scottish Government must prepare a document notifying the Scottish Parliament of its intention to consent to devolved matters being included in the Statutory Instrument (SI).

Protocol Notifications for EU Exit Statutory Instruments to the Scottish Parliament

These notifications to the Scottish Parliament under the Protocol seek the approval of the Scottish Parliament to the exercise of powers by UK Ministers under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 in relation to proposals within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. It explains the corrections to deficiencies in legislation (which will result from EU Exit) which are being legislated for through a UK Statutory Instrument.

Under the terms of the protocol, Scottish Government must prepare a document notifying the Scottish Parliament of its intention to consent to devolved matters being included in the Statutory Instrument. The relevant Parliamentary Committee will then scrutinise Scottish Ministers’ intention to consent.

These notifications have been prepared for each of the main UK Exit SIs which affect fisheries and marine policy areas and describe the legislation impacted, the nature of the deficiencies, the proposed corrections, and why the changes to regulations are necessary.  Further notifications, in which Marine Scotland has a partial interest, have also been prepared but are not listed here.  All notifications will form part of the papers of the relevant parliamentary committees.  

For further information, please contact Owen Griffiths. 

Further support

Disclaimer

The Scottish Government seeks to ensure that this guidance is up-to-date and accurate. However, requirements may change. You should consider seeking professional advice before making specific preparations. This guidance does not constitute legal or professional advice and we cannot accept liability for actions arising from its use. The Scottish Government is not responsible for the content of pages referenced by external links.

Privacy notice

Marine Scotland collects personal data in exercise of its statutory functions to manage Scotland’s seas and freshwater fisheries. Marine Scotland Communications maintain a contact list of organisations and individuals to get in touch with about policy developments and other factual information to fulfil these statutory obligations. This privacy policy explains how we use any personal data that we have collected about you.

What information we collect about you

Marine Scotland will process personal information in relation to its contacts list. This may be:

  • organisation/individuals name
  • organisation/individuals e-mail address
  • an organisation/individuals work telephone number
  • an organisation/individuals communications department’s contact number

If you wish to no longer be communicated by Marine Scotland Communications, you can opt-out by e-mailing: MarineScotland@gov.scot and we will cease to process your personal data.

How will we use your information

Marine Scotland will collect information about you in order for us to inform you of the latest policy developments, factual information or any other information we feel is in your interests to know.

We do not share your information with other organisations or individuals.

What happens to your personal information

Contact details are held securely on Scottish Government IT systems. If you would like to unsubscribe from this contact lists then we will ensure all contact details will be deleted. The Marine Scotland Communications team review the contacts list regularly to ensure it is accurate and up to date. If you have any queries or concerns about how your personal information will be handled please contact us at MarineScotland@gov.scot.

Lawful basis for processing

The law requires that we collect and record your explicit consent before providing you communications about latest developments, but you have the right to remove your consent at any time.

If you want to remove your consent, either use the unsubscribe option provided on any emailed newsletter from us (the Communications team) , or contact the Data Protection Officer: data.protection@gov.scot and tell us which service you are using and wish to unsubscribe from, so we can deal with your request promptly.

You are under no statutory obligation to provide personal data to Marine Scotland during the newsletter sign-up process; however, your email address is mandatory to receive the service. If you decline to provide it, we will not be able to provide this service to you.

Your rights

You have a right of access to any personal data we hold about you, by making a Subject Access Request (SAR).

In addition, if you believe that the data we hold is inaccurate or incomplete you can ask us to update our records. If you are unhappy with the way in which we process your personal data you can request that we stop or restrict the processing we complete using your personal data or ask us to delete the personal data we hold about you.

Find out more about your rights on the Information Commissioner's site.

In some circumstances we may not be able to comply with your request. This is because some of these rights are conditional and can only be applied in certain circumstances and/or where there is no compelling reason to continue to process your personal data.

Data Protection Officer
Victoria Quay
Commercial Street
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
Email: DataProtectionOfficer@gov.scot

Complaints

If you feel we have been unable, or unwilling, to resolve your information rights concern, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The ICO are the supervisory authority responsible for data protection in the UK.

For further information, including independent data protection advice and information in relation to your rights, you can contact the Information Commissioner at:

The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Tel: 08456 30 60 60

Website: www.ico.org.uk

You can also report any concerns here: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/handling/

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