§ 285.202 - Contents of documentation.

(a) A Bluefin Tuna Statistical Document, to be deemed complete, must:

(1) Have a document number assigned as prescribed by the country issuing the document;

(2) State the name of the country issuing the document, which is the country whose flag vessel harvested the bluefin tuna, regardless of where the tuna is first landed;

(3) State the name of the vessel that caught the fish and the vessel's registration number, if applicable;

(4) State the name of the owner of the trap that caught the fish, if applicable;

(5) State the point of export, which is the city, state or province, and country from which the bluefin tuna is first exported;

(6) State the following specified information about the shipment:

(i) The product type (fresh or frozen) and product form (round, gilled and gutted, dressed, fillet or other);

(ii) The method of fishing used to harvest the fish (purse seine, trap, rod and reel, etc.);

(iii) The ocean area from which the fish was harvested (western Atlantic, eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean, or Pacific);

(iv) The weight of each fish (in kilograms for the same product form previously specified);

(v) The identifying tag number, if landed by vessels from countries with tagging programs;

(7) State the name and license number of, and be signed and dated in the exporter's certification block by, the exporter;

(8) If applicable, state the name and title of, and be signed and dated in the validation block by, a responsible government official of the country whose flag vessel caught the tuna (regardless of where the tuna are first landed) or by an official of an institution accredited by said government, with official government or accredited institution seal affixed, thus validating the information on the Bluefin Tuna Statistical Document; and

(9) As applicable, state the name(s) and address(es), including the name of the city and state or province of import, and the name(s) of the intermediate country(ies) or the name of the country of final destination, and license number(s) of, and be signed and dated in the importer's certification block by, each intermediate and the final importer.

(b) An approved Bluefin Tuna Statistical Document may be obtained from the Regional Director to accompany exports of bluefin tuna from the United States. Bluefin tuna dealers in countries that do not provide an approved Bluefin Tuna Statistical Document to exporters may obtain an approved Bluefin Tuna Statistical Document from the Regional Director to accompany exports to the United States.

(c) Dealers from a country exporting bluefin tuna to the United States may use the approved Bluefin Tuna Statistical Document obtainable from the Regional Director or documents developed by the dealer's country, if that country submits a copy, through the ICCAT Executive Secretariat, to the Assistant Administrator, and the Assistant Administrator concurs with the ICCAT Secretariat's determination that the document meets the information requirements of the ICCAT recommendation. In such case, the Assistant Administrator shall provide a list of countries for which Bluefin Tuna Statistical Documents are approved, together with examples of such documents to the appropriate official of the U.S. Customs Service. Effective upon the date indicated in such notice to the U.S. Customs Service, shipments of bluefin tuna or bluefin tuna products offered for importation from said country(ies) may be accompanied by either that country's approved Bluefin Tuna Statistical Document or by the Bluefin Tuna Statistical Document provided to the foreign country exporter by the Regional Director.