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1. All quantities of fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1 imported from a third country into the territory of the Community shall be accompanied by a statistical document drawn up in accordance with the specimen shown at:

————— — Annex V in the case of swordfish,

— Annex VI or Annex VII in the case of bigeye tuna.

2. A statistical document shall:

(a) contain all the information specified in the relevant Annexes referred to in paragraph 1 and all the signatures required by the appropriate operators, who shall be answerable for the declarations made therein;

(b) be validated:

(i) where the fishing has been carried out by a vessel: by a civil servant duly approved by the flag State of the vessel which carries out the fishing or by any other person or institution duly approved by that State. In the case of the third countries listed in Annex IVb, validation may be undertaken by an institution recognised for that purpose by that country;

(ii) where the fishing has been carried out using a trap net: by a civil servant duly approved by the State in whose territorial waters the catch has been taken;

(iii) in the case of swordfish, bluefin tuna ◄ and bigeye tuna caught by a vessel operating under a charter agreement: by a civil servant or any other person or institution duly approved by the exporting State;

(iv) in the case of bigeye tuna caught by one of the vessels listed in Annexes VIIIa and VIIIb: by a Japanese or Taiwanese government official or by any other person duly approved for that purpose by the Governments of those countries;

(c) if the fishing has been carried out by a large-scale fishing vessel, be accepted only when that vessel is on the ICCAT record of vessels.

3. The statistical document shall be delivered to the competent authorities of the Member State in which the product is imported.

4. The Member States shall ensure that their customs authorities or other competent official agents request and examine all documents, including the statistical document, for imports of fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1. Those authorities may also examine the content of any cargo in order to verify the accuracy of the information contained in those documents.

5. The importation of fish belonging to one of the species referred to in Article 1 shall be prohibited where the cargo concerned is not accompanied by the statistical document for the relevant importation, validated and completed in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2.