Use cases by sector
Catch certificates and TRACES submissions
Preparing, checking and submitting without redoing the work on every consignment.
The catch certificate is the document accompanying fishery products to evidence where they come from and that they were caught legally. Preparing it follows a familiar pattern: a lot of third-party information, deadlines tied to a vessel's arrival, and a submission that has to be right first time.
What the work consists of
- 1
Gather the origin information
Vessel, area, dates, species and quantities. It comes from the vessel or the supplier, not from you.
- 2
Prepare the draft
This is where missing data shows up, and where you want it to: before submission.
- 3
Review before sending
A person checks the draft. A bad submission costs more than the review.
- 4
Submit and keep the receipt
With its date, which is what proves it went on time.
Important
Keeping the submitted draft and its receipt is not bureaucracy: if there is later a discrepancy about what was declared, you hold the exact document with its date. Reconstructing it afterwards from emails is not the same.
Frameworks cited
The European regime against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, with its catch certification scheme, and the trade control system used to process it. Exactly what your operation requires — import, re-export, processing — and on what deadlines is confirmed by your adviser or the competent authority.
Watch out
Origin information usually comes from a non-EU supplier, and it is the slowest to arrive. Requesting it when the deal is confirmed rather than when preparing the submission is the difference between arriving early and arriving in a rush.
Worth knowing
If you always work with the same suppliers and species, most of the work repeats. Built as a process, each consignment costs a fraction of the first.
›Can it be reviewed before sending?
Yes, and it should be: the draft is where the gaps show.
›What if a supplier's data is missing?
The case shows it was requested and when, which is what lets you chase it.
›Is what was submitted kept?
Yes, with its receipt and date.
A real case
The situation
An importer prepares each consignment's certificates from scratch and is always missing a supplier detail.
What you do
- Requests origin information when the deal is confirmed, not when preparing the submission
- Builds the consignment as a repeatable process
What you get
Submissions stop happening at the last minute and the receipt is kept with its date.
The situation
A shipment is held at the border because the catch certificate for that specific batch is missing.
What you do
- Ties the certificate to the consignment on receipt
- Checks what is missing before preparing the shipment
- Keeps your own copy as well as the travelling one
What you get
The shipment leaves complete and, if something is lost en route, it is reissued without depending on anyone.
The situation
The certificate arrives from the supplier without identifying the consignment.
What you do
- Requests it with the batch reference
What you get
The document can answer for a specific shipment.
The situation
A review asks about a shipment from a year ago.
What you do
- Keeps the file with its date
What you get
You answer without reconstructing.
The situation
Consignments from several origins mix in the same shipment.
What you do
- Records which consignments make up each dispatch
What you get
You can say what came from where.
The situation
The certificate expires before the goods leave.
What you do
- Records its validity on receipt
What you get
The warning arrives before loading.
The situation
The supplier changes and the history is missing.
What you do
- Keeps your own copy of what was received
What you get
The change does not leave you with nothing.
The situation
Every shipment is prepared from scratch.
What you do
- Reuses what repeats per destination
What you get
The second shipment costs half.
This article answers
- catch certificate traces
- submit catch certificates to traces
- documentation to import fish
- fishery product traceability