Fisheries Administrative Order No. 238, S. of 2012 establishing Rules and Regulations Governing the Implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1005/2008 on the Catch Certification Scheme.

This Administrative Order, consisting of 32 sections divided into seven Chapters and eight Annexes, establishes Rules and Regulations Governing the Implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1005/2008 on the Catch Certification Scheme. These rules and regulations aim to: 1. Comply with the provisions of Council Regulation No. 1005/2008 and its Implementing Guidelines. 2. Ensure traceability of fishery products derived from legal, reported and regulated fishing activities in the Philippines, at all stages from harvesting and processing to marketing; 3. Establish a mandatory set of procedures for the catch certification scheme; and, 4. Ensure that fishery products exported to an EU-member country originate from catches made in compliance with applicable laws, regulations or conservation and management measures. This Order shall apply to all Philippine-flagged fishing vessels that either directly supplies raw materials to EU-member countries or supply raw materials to canneries, processors or exporters for processing prior to the export of the processed fishery products to EU-member countries. This Order shall also apply to canneries, processors, and exporters which are exporting fishery products to EU-member countries. To ensure that the objectives of this Order are realized, catch landing and transshipment must always be recorded or declared; Landing of catches shall be verified and certified by authorized BFAR personnel in a Catch Validation Certificate described in Section 13 and Annex 6 of this Administrative Order; Transshipment shall be declared and reported by the vessel captain in a Transshipment Certificate described in Annex 5.
No fish or fishery products caught or taken by means of IUU fishing or without complete traceability in all its stages from fishing or gathering, storage, transporting, processing up to distribution shall be exported to EU-member countries. Export of fishery product/s to EU-member countries shall only be allowed if supported by a Catch Certificate, which has been validated by DA-BFAR. Annexes deal with the following matters: General Format of Regular or Simplified Catch Certificate (including process flow for their issuance; List of Codes of Commercial Fishing Companies, Canneries and/or Processors; General Format of Transshipment Certificate; Amended Format of the Catch Validation Certificate; BFAR-Prescribed Formats of Fish Catch Reports and Logsheet; List of Fishery Products Excluded from Catch Certification.