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1. All bigeye tuna imported into the territory of a Member State shall be accompanied by an IOTC Bigeye Tuna Statistical Document, as provided for in Annex 8, or an IOTC bigeye tuna re-export certificate which meets the requirements of Annex 9.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, bigeye tuna caught by purse seine vessel or pole and line (bait) vessels and destined principally for the canneries in the Area are not subject to this statistical requirement.

3. The documents referred to in paragraph 1 shall be validated in accordance with the format set out in Annex IV to CMM 03/03 and the following rules:

(a) the IOTC bigeye tuna statistical document shall be validated by the flag Member State of the vessel that caught the tuna, or if the vessel is operating under a chartering arrangement, by the State that exported the tuna;

(b) the IOTC bigeye tuna re-export certificate shall be validated by the State that re-exported the tuna;

(c) statistical documents for bigeye tuna caught by Union vessels may be validated by the Member State where the products are landed, provided the corresponding quantities of bigeye tuna are exported outside the Union from the territory of the Member States of landing.

4. By 15 March of each year, for the period from 1 July to 31 December of the previous year, and by 15 September of each year, for the period from 1 January to 30 June of the current year, Member States that import bigeye tuna shall report to the Commission the data collected under the bigeye tuna statistical document programme, using the format set out in Annex III to CMM 03/03. The Commission shall examine the information and shall transmit it to the IOTC Secretariat by 1 April and 1 October, respectively.

5. Member States which export bigeye tuna shall examine export data upon receiving the import data referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, and shall report the results to the Commission annually, in accordance with Article 51(5).