Written question asked by Barry Gardiner (Labour) on Friday, 17 October 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 23 October 2025 (named day). It was answered by Angela Eagle (Labour) on Wednesday, 29 October 2025 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Seafood: Imports

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to update the catch certificate system for seafood imports to mirror upcoming changes being made by the EU to its catch certificate scheme.

Answer: The UK will be updating the information required on catch certificates this year. These changes will focus on ensuring the robustness of the data on traceability measures and will ensure that UK exporters can continue to re-export seafood originating from other countries to the EU. The UK’s Fish Export Service (FES) enables exporters to generate electronic IUU catch documentation, including catch certificates. The UK also plans to integrate FES with the EU’s CATCH system in 2026 to support system interoperability.

Secondary information