NMFS Amends Certain Cod and Chilean Sea Bass Import/Export Requirements
The National Marine Fisheries Service has issued a final rule, effective May 10, 2010, which details and amends certain requirements for importing, exporting, and re-exporting toothfish (Dissostichus spp.), in order to facilitate conservation and management of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (AMLR).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
(The Dissostichus species includes toothfish such as Chilean sea bass and Antarctic cod.)
NMFS Clarifies Frozen Toothfish Imports/Reexports Allowed Only by C-VMS
NMFS’ final rule adds definitions for “Centralized Vessel Monitoring System (C-VMS)”, “port-to-port”, and “real-time” and further details the U.S. requirement that importation, re-exportation, and/or exportation of frozen toothfish is allowed only with verifiable documentation that the harvesting vessel participated in real-time C-VMS port-to-port.
Shipments of frozen Dissostichus spp. are required to have such verifiable documentation except where the Dissostichus spp. being shipped was harvested during a fishing trip that began prior to September 24, 2007.
NMFS notes that its final rule does not change current requirements for U.S. vessels harvesting AMLR to use real-time centralized VMS (or C-VMS) and for dealers seeking pre-approval to import toothfish into the U.S. to submit to NMFS verifiable documentation of C-VMS use. NMFS will use the information submitted by dealers seeking to import frozen Dissostichus spp. into the U.S. market to verify that the harvesting vessel was reporting its positions, via real-time centralized VMS (or C-VMS), from the time the vessel left port to the time that the vessel returned to port and at all points in between (i.e., port-to-port).
Toothfish Reexport/Export Catch-Documentation Requirements
NMFS’ final rule revises the catch-documentation requirements for re-exporting toothfish under 50 CFR 300.107(c)(6) to clarify that the application for a Dissostichus species export or re-export document must identify:
(1) the container number for the shipment if the shipment is to be re-exported by vessel;
(2) the flight number and airway bill/bill of lading if the shipment is to be re-exported by air;
(3) the truck registration number and nationality if the shipment is to be re-exported by ground transportation; or
(4) the railway transport number if the shipment is to be re-exported by rail.
(The final rule also clarifies that the exporter would receive an electronically-generated Dissostichus species re-export document.)
The final rule also adds a new 50 CFR 300.107(c)(7), which identifies reporting and recordkeeping requirements for exports of Dissostichus species. These requirements are nearly identical to requirements for re-exports and pertain to U.S.-caught toothfish that dealers want to export.
(See final rule for complete regulations, including the requirement for AMLR harvesting permit applicants for krill to submit applications by June 1 prior to the krill season opening, NMFS simplification of its public information process on annual conservation measures, etc.)
NMFS contact -- Robert Gorrell (301) 713-2341
NMFS final rule (D/N 0907141130-0112-02, FR Pub 04/15/10) available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-8134.pdf