GovWire

This guidance explains how to:

• export fish from the UK to the EU
• move fish between Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland

You should follow guidance on exporting or moving live fish and shellfish if youre exporting or moving live fish, molluscs and crustaceans not for direct human consumption.

To export fish from the UK to the EU and the 8 countries that require them (excluding Northern Ireland to the EU), youll need a catch certificate.

Its your responsibility to check specific requirements for non-EU countries.

Youll need to follow customs and border inspection requirements.

You must meet:

• labelling requirements for fish
• health and identification mark requirements

All UK flagged vessels must meet sea fishing statutory requirements - see the sea fishing section of marine guidance.

There are no other requirements for consignments of fish and fishery products moving from:

• Northern Ireland to the EU
• Northern Ireland to Great Britain

The only extremely limited exceptions apply where goods fall within procedures relating to specific international obligations binding on the UK (such as requirements on the trade of endangered species, or the movement of bluefin tuna or Antarctic and Patagonian toothfish).

Exporting fish from Great Britain to the EU or moving it to Northern Ireland

To export fish from Great Britain to the EU or move it to Northern Ireland, youll need to:

• make sure your importer pre-notifies via TRACES NT in advance of arrival
• enter via an EU border control post (BCP) or a Northern Ireland point of entry (PoE)
• provide an export health certificate (EHC)
• provide a catch certificate - you need to validate this and send it to your importer

You may also need:

• direct landing documents
• a storage document if your product has been stored
• a processing statement if your product has been processed

The UK and other countries use these documents to monitor fishing activity and to detect illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

Send fish from Great Britain to an EU BCP or Northern Ireland point of entry

Youll need to send all consignments of fish and fishery products through an EU BCP or Northern Ireland point of entry with approved facilities if the fish was:

• caught by a UK flagged vessel
• imported into Great Britain and processed or stored
• landed anywhere except the EU or Northern Ireland

BCPs in the EU

There are more than 400 BCPs in the EU and theyre usually at EU ports. Check the full list of EU BCPs.

Your EU importer must notify the BCP or point of entry in Northern Ireland in advance of your arrival. Notification periods vary. Check with the BCP or point of entry to find out how much notice you must give.

Fishery products entering the EU via Calais or Coquelles must travel to the BCP at Boulogne-sur-Mer under a Common Transit Convention (CTC) declaration submitted up to 72 hours in advance of arrival. Lorries arriving in Calais or Coquelles will be directed to the green corridor to go to the Boulogne-sur-Mer BCP, where checks will be carried out.

Check the HMRC guidance to find out how to move your goods using the Common Transit Convention.

If the fish was caught before 1 January 2021

It may not be possible to get a catch certificate for fish that a UK or EU Member State flagged vessel caught before 1 January 2021. You should check with your importing Competent Authority in the EU Member State what documents theyll require for these products.

You may need other documents to prove that the fish was caught before 1 January 2021, such as:

• invoices
• sales notes
• landing declarations

Youll need either a processing statement or storage document to accompany the consignment if the fish was both:

• caught by an EU Member State flagged vessel before 1 January 2021
• processed or stored in the UK

You can find these documents on the UKs Fish Export Service. Enter pre-2021 fish into the catch certificate reference box.

Create a catch certificate

You must create a catch certificate to export a consignment of fish that has been landed by a UK flagged catching vessel into the UK. A consignment is all products going across the border at the same time. This will be required for movements from:

• Great Britain to Northern Ireland
• Great Britain to the EU
• the UK to the rest of the world (excluding movements from Northern Ireland to the EU)

The catch certificate shows that youve caught your fish legally. It includes:

• details about the catching vessel including vessel name, port letter and number (PLN), licence number
• the species and commodity code, also known as product code
• amount of fish by species and net weight per vessel
• when and where the fish was caught

Storage document - for fish stored on premises in Great Britain but not processed

If youre exporting from Great Britain to the EU, or moving fish from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, any fish sourced from another country that has been stored in Great Britain for 24 hours or longer, but not processed in any way, youll need to create a storage document.

You must keep a copy of the catch certificate from the original consignment with the storage document.

Processing statement - for fish processed in Great Britain

If youre exporting from Great Britain to the EU, or moving fish from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, any fish sourced from another country that has been processed in Great Britain, youll need to create a processing statement.

Include a copy of the catch certificate from the original consignment with the processing statement.

When you do not need a catch certificate

You do not need a catch certificate to export:

• farmed fish and farmed shellfish
• freshwater fish or freshwater shellfish
• fish fry or larvae
• some molluscs including mussels, cockles, oysters and scallops, but youll still need a live shellfish registration document - contact your local council for more information

Check with the country into which you are importing what their requirements are.

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