Buying and trading fish
Do you want to buy and trade fish? You must comply with the rules for trading fish. These include rules on labelling and transporting fish.
Buying from a fishing vessel
Do you buy landed fish directly from a fishing vessel and has this fish not been offered on the market before? Then this is the 1st purchase of fish. Is your yearly turnover less than €200,000? You have to notify the 1st purchase of fish to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO, in Dutch) within 48 hours. You may authorise someone to do this for you.
Traceability obligation on sale
If you bring fish onto the EU market, you must ensure the fish is either labelled, or accompanied by traceability documentation. The traceability obligation applies to all parties active in the fisheries industry, from catch to retail. The information must include data such as:
- the identification number of every catch
- the external identification number and the name of the fishing vessel
- the amount of each fish species
- the FAO 3-letter identifier for each species
- the date of the catch or production
- the area the fish was caught (expressed in ICES Division)
- If applicable, the name and address of suppliers
An electronic medium such as a bar code is also mandatory. This way the fish is always traceable to the source.
Selling from a fishing vessel
Do you sell fish from a fishing vessel directly to consumers? And does the amount involved not exceed €50 per calendar day. Then the traceability obligation does not apply to you.
Approved fish auctions
The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) monitors food safety at fish auctions in the Netherlands. You can find a list of recognised fish auctions (Erkende visafslagen) on their website (in Dutch).
Transporting fish
When you transport fish to auction or other place of sale, you must have a tracking document. For instance a vessel note (vaartuigbriefje) or transport document. If you did not receive a (complete) transport document from the fisherman, you can complete and use the transport document for fish from the NVWA (in Dutch).
Supervision
The NVWA monitors the fisheries industry in the Netherlands. If you do not comply with the rules, you may be fined heavily.