FAC 238-1 Issued October 10, 2013

OF AQ
Republic of the Philippines

cc Department of Agriculture
W Wilt'
e
C Office of the Secretary
Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City
BFAR ADMINISTRATIVE
CIRCULAR NO. 238-1
Series of 2013
SUBJECT : Amending several provisions of Fisheries Administrative

Order No. 238, series of 2012
Pursuant to Section 107 of Republic Act 8550 or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998,
FAO 238 on the Rules and Regulations Governing the Implementation of Council
Regulation (EC) No. 1005/2008 on the Catch Certification Scheme is hereby amended as
follows:
Section 1. Objectives. - Section 1 is hereby amended to further clarify item 2 and to

include the following objectives:
"2. Ensure full traceability of fishery products derived from legal, reported and
regulated fishing activities in the Philippines, at all stages from harvesting and
processing to marketing;"
5. Update and revise as necessary, procedures on the catch documentation

scheme to conform to developments in international markets;
6. Ensure continued global market access of Philippine fish and fishery

products;"
Section 2. Application. - Section 3 of FAO 238 is hereby amended to clarify the scope
of application of this regulation, as follows:
"This Order shall apply to all foreign or Philippine flagged fishing vessels that
supply raw materials to canneries, processors or exporters for processing prior to
the export of the processed fishery products to EU-member countries, and to
Philippine flagged fishing vessels directly exporting raw materials to EU-member
countries. This Order shall also apply to canneries, processors, and exporters which
are exporting fishery products to EU- member countries."
Section 3. Declaration of Catch Landing and Transshipment. - Section 4 item (a) of

FAO 238 is hereby revised as follows:
"a.) Landing of catches shall be verified and certified by authorized BFAR personnel in
a Catch Origin Landing Declaration (COLD) described in Section 13 and Annex 6 of this
Administrative Order;"
Section 4. Regular Catch Certificate. - Section 8 on the classification of regular catch

certificate and Section 12 on Consignment Catch Certificate of FAO 238 are hereby
deleted. For purpose of catch documentation scheme, the mother catch certificate and
consignment catch certificate will no longer be issued. Only regular catch certificate will
be issued.
Section 5. Requirements. - Section 9 items (2) and (4) of FAO 238 on the
requirements for the issuance of a Regular Catch Certificate is hereby modified as
follows:
"2.Copy of the Commercial Fishing Vessel/Gear License (CFVGL), and Certificate of

Ownership (CO) and Certificate of Philippine Registry (CPR),
4. Catch Origin Landing Declaration (COLD) submitted by the Captain or master of

the fishing vessel or his representative and verified by the concerned BFAR Regional
Office"
Section 6. The Catch Origin Landing Declaration (COLD). - Section 13 of FAO 238 is
revised, renaming the Catch Validation Certificate (CVC) to Catch Origin Landing
Declaration (COLD), which is described as follows:
"The Catch Origin Landing Declaration is a document submitted to BFAR by the Captain or
Master of a fishing vessel or his representative upon arrival. it shall contain at least the
following information:
a. the name of the catcher and/or carrier vessel/s, flag, registration number
and fishing license number;
b. the FAO alpha-3 code of each species;
c. catch description, whether fresh/chilled or frozen;
d. the port and date landed;
e. the quantities of each species in metric tons or, where appropriate, the
number of individuals.
BFAR shall validate/verify the species and weight of fish landed by a fishing vessel in a
particular fish port in the Philippines. Since most catches are unloaded by carrier
vessels that consolidate catch from one or more catcher vessels, the COLD shall also
indicate the species and volume of fish per catcher vessel. For this purpose, the carrier
vessel must provide to BFAR a Transshipment Certificate and Stowage Plan certified by
the captain/master. The species and weight indicated in the COLD shall be the basis of
the weight that will be indicated under the box "Verified weight landed (kg) where
appropriate". Annex 1 of this Order contains the format of the COLD.
Section 7. Procedures in Securing the RCC. - Section 14 of FAO 238 is hereby revised
as follows:
it
1. The fishing company shall properly accomplish the RCC in triplicate, in one page
only (A4 size; back-to-back), in accordance with the aforementioned instructions
and shall submit these to BFAR together with the documentary requirements.
2. The BFAR shall evaluate and verify the documents and the information contained
therein and if satisfied of the completeness, truthfulness and correctness of the data
and the RCC's exhaustiveness and accuracy, as well as compliance with applicable
management and conservation measures, the authorized signatory shall assign
and write the document number in the RCC and accomplish, sign, and affix the
official dry and wet seal in Section 9 of the RCC. Otherwise, the RCC shall not be
validated and the same together with the documentary requirements shall be
returned to the fishing company, which shall be informed of the lacking
requirement/s or reason for the rejection.
3. Two (2) sets of the validated RCC shall be released to the fishing company within
three (3) working days from the date of application. One (1) set shall be retained by
BFAR for record purposes.
4. The fishing company shall furnish the cannery or processor that purchased the
catch with one (1) set of the validated RCC and retain the other set for record
purposes.
S. The cannery or processor shall use the validated RCC to accompany the
consignment."
Section 8. Procedures in Accomplishing the SCC. - Section 23 item 2 of FAO 238 is

hereby amended as follows:
2. The BFAR shall evaluate and verify the documents and the information contained
therein and if satisfied on the completeness, truthfulness and correctness of the data, and
the SCC's exhaustiveness and accuracy, as well as compliance with applicable management
and conservation measures, the authorized signatory shall assign and write the
document number in the SCC and shall accomplish, sign, and apply the dry seal/stamp.
Otherwise, the SCC shall not be validated and the same together with the documentary
requirements shall be returned to the fishing company, which shall be informed of the
lacking requirement/s or reason for the rejection."
Section 9. Official Reply. - Section 31 of FAO 238 is hereby modified as follows:
"The BFAR Signatory who validated the CC shall address the query or request for
clarification or confirmation or any issues raised as soon as possible, in consultation with
the fishing company, cannery, processor or exporter concerned and the reply shall be sent
to the requesting party within fifteen (15) days from the receipt thereof, copy
furnished the BFAR FRQD and the Office of the BFAR Director. For this purpose, each
cannery or processing plant shall designate one permanent liaison officer who shall be the
direct contact person for any information on official replies."
Section 10. Traceability. Pending the promulgation of a separate Fisheries

Administrative Order establishing an automated traceability system, all EU-accredited
canneries and processors shall, in the meantime, establish an internal traceability
system to ensure full traceability and monitoring of quantities (input and output) based
on actual weight or a standard rate with variance which shall form the basis for
endorsement of Annex IV or Processing Statements. BFAR shall check the internal
traceability system established by canneries and processors to determine whether
complete traceability is in place. Internal traceability system/procedures that ensure
complete traceability shall be accredited by BFAR.
Section 11. Mandatory Monitoring of Production/Processing Activities. Risk-based

monitoring of processing activities of raw materials intended for export to EU shall be
undertaken by authorized BFAR personnel to ensure that accredited traceability
system/procedures described in the preceding section are strictly followed and
therefore ensuring full traceability of fishery products inside the processing plants.
Section 12. Repealing Clause. All orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof which
are inconsistent with this Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
Section 13. Effectivity. This Order shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication
in a newspaper of general circulation and upon registration with the National
Administrative Register.
Issued this Ic> day of c CTD BIZ 2013 at Quezon City, Philippines.
Recommending approval:
ASIS G. PEREZ
D' ector
ureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
PIBLISH D: Nov. 15, 2013

Phil. Daily Inquirer
Jan. 08, 2014
U.P. Law Center-ONAR
a
z
0
-J
0
0

FAC 238-1 Issued October 10, 2013

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

FAC 238-1 Issued October 10, 2013

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

FAC 238-1 Issued October 10, 2013

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

OF AQ

Republic of the Philippines

SUBJECT : Amending several provisions of Fisheries Administrative

Section 1. Objectives. - Section 1 is hereby amended to further clarify item 2 and to

5. Update and revise as necessary, procedures on the catch documentation

6. Ensure continued global market access of Philippine fish and fishery

Section 3. Declaration of Catch Landing and Transshipment. - Section 4 item (a) of

Section 4. Regular Catch Certificate. - Section 8 on the classification of regular catch

"2.Copy of the Commercial Fishing Vessel/Gear License (CFVGL), and Certificate of

4. Catch Origin Landing Declaration (COLD) submitted by the Captain or master of

Section 8. Procedures in Accomplishing the SCC. - Section 23 item 2 of FAO 238 is

Section 9. Official Reply. - Section 31 of FAO 238 is hereby modified as follows:

Section 10. Traceability. Pending the promulgation of a separate Fisheries

Section 11. Mandatory Monitoring of Production/Processing Activities. Risk-based

PIBLISH D: Nov. 15, 2013

You might also like