Temporary fish exports guidance
Rules and processes for exporting and importing wild-caught marine fish to and from the EU and to other countries that require fish export documentation.
Exporting fish to the EU
The digital ‘manage fish exports’ service is currently unavailable. For trade continuity, editable PDF versions of the forms mentioned below are available. You can access the documentation you need by emailing your request to [email protected]. Please only email if you require a catch certificate, storage document or processing statement within the next 4 hours.
The following guidance has been created to reflect this temporary system outage.
To export wild-caught marine fish to the EU, you’ll need:
- a catch certificate
- an export health certificate, except for direct landings in EU ports from UK-flagged fishing vessels
You may also need:
- a prior notification form
- a pre-landing declaration
- a storage document
- a processing statement
The EU uses these documents to monitor fishing activity and to detect illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
You’ll also need to comply with HMRC guidance on customs requirements for exporting to the EU.
Rules will apply to:
- exports to the EU of fish caught by a UK flagged fishing vessel
- exports to the EU of fish imported from another country that have been stored or processed in the UK
- direct landings in EU ports by a UK flagged fishing vessel
This guidance on rules and export documents already applies to UK caught fish that is exported to these non-EU countries:
- Iceland
- Ivory Coast
- Kuwait
- Madagascar
- Norway
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- Ukraine
Send fish to an EU border inspection post
You’ll need to send all consignments of fish and fishery products through an EU [border inspection post (BIP) if the fish was both:
- caught by a UK flagged vessel
- landed in the UK before being transported to the EU by sea, air, road or rail
Create a catch certificate
You’ll need a catch certificate for most exports of fish to the EU. The catch certificate shows that the fish was caught legally.
The catch certificate must include:
- details about the catching vessels, including vessel name, Port letter and number (PLN), licence number
- amount of fish by species and net weight per vessel
- commodity code, also known as product code
- when and where the fish was caught - for fish caught in the North East Atlantic use code FA027, for fish caught elsewhere check the correct code by area
If you’re exporting fish that came from multiple vessels, you’ll need to specify quantities from each vessel.
To get a catch certificate to export a consignment of fish from the UK to the EU you’ll need to email [email protected] requesting the relevant documentation for each consignment of fish.
When you’ve received and completed the form, you need to:
Email the completed catch certificate form to the UK fisheries authority. They will validate and store your catch certificate and email it back to you.
Catch certificates will be rejected if there are any inaccuracies or spelling mistakes so please check before submitting. Make sure you include correct email address on the form so the validating authority can send it back to you.
It is important to note that all documents submitted will be dealt with on a first come, first serve basis.
Once you have received your validated document, email the catch certificate to your EU importer to complete their sections or print/save a copy to present to border officials.
You won’t need a catch certificate to export:
- farmed fish and farmed shellfish
- freshwater fish or freshwater shellfish
- fish fry or larvae
- some molluscs including cuttlefish, scallops, mussels, cockles and oysters, but you may still need a live shellfish registration document - contact your local council for more information
Method of transport
You’ll need to include transport details on the catch certificate. These will include by:
- sea: the container numbers and the name and flag of the container vessel
- air: the airway bill or flight number
- road: the registration number of the vehicle or CMR note
- rail: the railway bill number
If you don’t know any of these details, check with your transport agent.
You’ll need to send the validated catch certificate to the importer so they can give it to the receiving country’s competent authority. You must do this for exports by:
- sea: 72 hours before landing
- air and rail: 4 hours before arriving
- road: 2 hours before arriving
Get help with catch certificates and supporting documents
During a system outage the service is only contactable via email
Get an export health certificate
You’ll need an Export Health Certificate (EHC) for all exports of fish to the EU, including farmed fish and shellfish. You won’t need an EHC for direct landings in an EU port from a UK flagged fishing vessel.
Read guidance on how to get an EHC.
Direct landing documents
To land your catch from your UK flagged fishing vessel directly in the EU you’ll need to land in a designated EU port
Fishery enforcement officers may inspect your fish when you arrive. You’ll need to show them the catch certificate.
You’ll need to complete a:
- prior notification form
- pre-landing declaration
Prior notification form
You’ll need to fill in a prior notification form and email it to your destination designated EU port.
You need to send it:
- for frozen fish, at least 72 hours before landing
- for fresh fish, at least 4 hours before landing
Pre-landing declaration
You’ll need to fill in a pre-landing declaration and email it to your destination designated EU port 4 hours before landing.
You’ll need to give details of the:
- area fished
- quantity of fish by species on board the vessel
North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) Port State Control forms
If you haven’t already, you will have to register your fishing vessel with NEAFC. Once your vessel is registered, you’ll need to submit a NEAFC Port State Control form (PSC1 or PSC2) before landing. Check with the NEAFC to find out how much notice you need to give. This will vary depending on the country you’re exporting to and how your product is presented.
Storage document - for fish stored in the UK but not processed
If you’re exporting to the EU fish sourced from another country that have been stored in the UK, but not processed in any way, you’ll need to request and create a storage document.
In your application, you need to provide:
- a description of the product and commodity code
- export weight of the product
- date and place the product entered the UK
- description of the storage facility and conditions the fish was kept in
- transport details – flight number, railway bill, vehicle registration number or CMR note
You can request a storage document by emailing [email protected] with your request. Once you have received and completed a storage document, you need to return it via email for validation and storage. The UK Fisheries Authority will validate your storage document and email it back to you.
Storage documents will be rejected if there are any inaccuracies or spelling mistakes, so please check before submitting. Make sure you include a correct email address on the form so that validating authority can email you.
It is important to note that all documents submitted will be dealt with on a first come, first serve basis.
Make sure you include the storage document, with the original third country catch certificate when you send the consignment for export.
Processing statement - for fish processed in the UK
If you’re exporting to the EU fish sourced from another country that has been processed in the UK, you’ll need to create a processing statement. You can request this document by emailing [email protected]
In your application, you need to provide:
- a description of the product and commodity code
- species and weight of the fish landed
- the net weight of the fish used for processing
- the weight of the product after processing
- processing plant details, including approval number
- catch certificate number and validation date
- export health certificate number and date
Include a copy of the catch certificate from the original consignment with the processing statement.
Once you complete a processing statement, you need to email the completed processing statement to the UK fisheries authority. They will validate your processing statement and email it back to you.
Processing statements will be rejected if there are any inaccuracies or spelling mistakes, so please check before submitting. Make sure you include a correct email address on the form so that validating authority can email you.
It is important to note that all documents submitted will be dealt with on a first come, first serve basis.
Make sure you include the processing statement, with the original third country catch certificate when you send the consignment for export.
Exporting fish to non-EU countries
Find out when to use catch certificates for non-EU imports and exports of fish. Requirements for importing from the EU.