27.6.2013

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 175/61

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 applies to all activities covered by the common fisheries policy carried out on the territory of Member States or in Union waters or by Union fishing vessels or, without prejudice to the primary responsibility of the flag Member State, by nationals of Member States, and lays down in particular that Member States shall ensure that control, inspection and enforcement are carried out on a non-discriminatory basis as regards sectors, vessels or persons, and on the basis of risk management.

(2)

Council Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008 of 18 December 2008 establishing a long-term plan for cod stocks and the fisheries exploiting those stocks and repealing Regulation (EC) No 423/2004 (2) lays down the conditions for the sustainable exploitation of cod in the Kattegat, the North Sea, the Skagerrak, the eastern Channel, the waters west of Scotland and the Irish Sea. Council Regulation (EC) No 676/2007 of 11 June 2007 establishing a multiannual plan for fisheries exploiting stocks of plaice and sole in the North Sea (3) lays down the conditions for the sustainable exploitation of plaice and sole.

(3)

Article 95 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 foresees the possibility for the Commission to determine, in concert with the Member States concerned, the fisheries which are to be subject to a specific control and inspection programme. Such a specific control and inspection programme has to state the objectives, priorities and procedures as well as benchmarks for inspection activities to be established on the basis of risk management and to be revised periodically after an analysis of the achieved results. Member States concerned are obliged to adopt the necessary measures to ensure the implementation of the specific control and inspection programme, particularly as regards required human and material resources and the periods and zones where these are to be deployed.

(4)

Article 95(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 provides that the specific control and inspection programme states benchmarks for inspections activities that are to be established on the basis of risk management. For this purpose, it is appropriate to lay down common risk assessment and management criteria for checking, inspection and verification activities in order to allow timely risk analyses and global assessments of relevant control and inspection information. The common criteria aim at ensuring a harmonised approach to inspection and verification in all Member States and establishing a level playing field for all operators.

(5)

The specific control and inspection programme should be established for the period until 31 December 2018 and should be implemented by Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

(6)

Article 98(1) and (3) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 (4) foresees that, without prejudice to provisions contained in multiannual plans, competent authorities of Member States have to adopt a risk based approach for the selection of targets for inspection, using all available information and, subject to a risk based control and enforcement strategy, carry out the necessary inspection activities in an objective way in order to prevent the retention on board, transhipment, landing, processing, transport, storage, marketing and stocking of fishery products originating from activities that are not in compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy.

(7)

The European Fisheries Control Agency set up by Council Regulation (EC) No 768/2005 (5) (hereafter referred to as ‘楨FCA‘� has to coordinate the implementation of the specific control and inspection programme through a joint deployment plan, which gives effect to the objectives, priorities, procedures and benchmarks for inspection activities determined in the specific control and inspection programme, and identifies the means of control and inspection which could be pooled by each Member State concerned. Relations between procedures defined by the specific control and inspection programme and those defined by the joint deployment plan, should therefore be clarified.

(8)

In order to harmonise the control and inspection procedures of the fishing activities on cod, plaice and sole, and to ensure the success of the multiannual plans for these stocks and their fisheries, it is appropriate to draw up common rules for the control and inspection activities to be carried out by the competent authorities of the Member States concerned, including mutual access to relevant data. To that end, target benchmarks should determine the intensity of control and inspection activities.

(9)

Joint inspection and surveillance activities between Member States concerned should be carried out, where applicable, in accordance with joint deployment plans established by the EFCA so as to enhance uniformity of control, inspection and surveillance practices and help develop the coordination of control, inspection and surveillance activities between the competent authorities of those Member States.

(10)

The results obtained through the application of the specific control and inspection programme should be assessed by means of annual evaluation reports to be communicated by each Member State concerned to the Commission and to the EFCA.

(11)

The measures provided for in this Decision have been established in concert with the Member States concerned.

(12)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,

(a)

fishing activities within the meaning of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 in Areas concerned; and

(b)

fishing related activities, including the weighing, processing, marketing, transport and storage of fisheries products.

(a)

fishing opportunities management and any specific conditions associated therewith, including the monitoring of quota uptake and effort regime in the Areas concerned;

(b)

reporting obligations applicable to fishing activities, in particular the reliability of the information recorded and reported;

(c)

provisions on the high grading ban and obligation to land all catches subject to a quota.