Export document

EU catch certificate

The European Union requires a catch certificate for imported wild-caught fishery products. The flag state of the vessel validates that the catch was taken legally, and without that validation the consignment does not enter. The document originates upstream of the processing plant, at the vessel.

The essentials.

The regime: Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, the European Union's rules against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.¹
Who validates it: The flag state of the vessel that caught the fish, confirming the catch complied with the applicable rules.¹
What it covers: Imported wild-caught fishery products as a category. It is not specific to tuna, and it is not specific to Indonesia.¹
What it sits alongside: An export health certificate, and a processing plant already on the EU list of approved establishments.²

Who asks for it.

Set at European Union level, so it reads the same in every member state. The authority enforcing it changes at each border, the requirement does not.

What it does not cover.

It cannot be produced after the fact
The certificate follows the fish from the vessel. If the link back to the catch was not recorded at the time, no amount of paperwork at the processing plant reconstructs it, and the consignment stops at the EU border.
It does not replace plant approval
A valid catch certificate for legally caught fish still gets you nowhere if the plant that processed it is absent from the EU approved list. The two requirements are independent and both have to hold.

Questions buyers ask.

Does aquaculture need one?

The regime is aimed at wild-caught product. Farmed seafood follows a different evidence trail, though the health certification and approved-establishment requirements apply either way.

Who arranges it in practice?

The exporter, working back through the supply chain to the vessel and the flag state authority. Your part is to ask for it at the order stage and to confirm the chain exists before a deposit moves.

Where this comes up.

Indonesian yellowfin tuna
Cuts, cold chain and the two EU requirements you cannot arrange late: a flag-state validated catch certificate and an approved processing plant.

Worth reading.

Sources

1Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. EUR-Lex. Checked 3 August 2026.
2Entering the European market for fresh tuna. CBI, Netherlands Enterprise Agency. Checked 3 August 2026.

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