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1. Member States shall use an electronic reporting system to transmit without delay the reports and information to the NEAFC Secretariat with the Commission and EFCA in copy, implementing:

(a) the Fishing Activity Domain XML Schema Definition based on the UN/FLUX P1000-3 standard compliant with the FLUX Fishing Activities Implementation Document adopted by NEAFC and notified by the Commission, to exchange fishing logbook data, prior notification data, transhipment declaration data, and landing declaration data referred to in Articles 14 and 15;

(b) the Vessel Position Domain XML Schema Definition based on the UN/FLUX P1000-7 standard compliant with the FLUX Vessel Position Implementation Document adopted by NEAFC and notified by the Commission, to report VMS data referred to in Article 16; and (c) data exchange formats and data communication systems compliant with the rules set out in Annex XI.

2. In the event of technical malfunction, reports shall be transmitted to the NEAFC Secretariat within 24 hours of receipt or as otherwise agreed with the NEAFC Secretariat, in accordance with the technical specifications in the Business Continuity Guidelines in the NEAFC Information Security Management System.

3. Masters of Union fishing vessels shall fulfil the reporting requirements set out in Articles 14 and 15 and Article 16(2) and (3). Fishing activity reports referred to in Articles 14 and 15 shall only be considered to be accepted if a positive acknowledgment from the NEAFC Secretariat is received. The flag Member State FMC shall without delay inform the master of the fishing vessel of the status of the report received by the NEAFC Secretariat.

4. The master of a Union fishing vessel who has not received a positive acknowledgment on a fishing activity report from the NEAFC Secretariat shall immediately make appropriate amendments and resubmit the fishing activity report to the flag Member State FMC. If the master still does not receive a positive acknowledgment, or if it is no longer possible to amend or resubmit fishing activity reports due to time limits, the master shall contact the flag Member State FMC to receive the necessary guidance on follow-up procedures, to ensure that the data referred to in Articles 14 and 15 are submitted.

5. In the event of equipment failures or transmission failures preventing the correct submission of fishing activity reports, the master of a Union fishing vessel shall immediately notify the flag Member State FMC about problems influencing the data exchanges and, where appropriate, inform the flag Member State FMC of any actions taken to resolve the failure. The FMC shall communicate the necessary follow-up procedures to the master to ensure that the data referred to in Articles 14 and 15 are submitted, if necessary, by using alternative means.

6. Union fishing vessels shall be equipped with an electronic recording and reporting system on board, fully operational at all times. In the event of a technical malfunction of the electronic recording and reporting system on board a Union fishing vessel:

(a) the system shall be repaired or replaced within one month and as soon as the fishing vessel enters a port, whichever is the earlier; and (b) the fishing vessel shall not be authorised to leave port to commence fishing without the system having been repaired or replaced.

7. The FMC may, as a fall-back procedure and after individual evaluation and validation, accept reports outside of time limits or correct or manually create reports. In all these cases, the FMC shall use the FMC marking set out in Annex XII when communicating reports and information to the NEAFC Secretariat. The FMC marking shall be part of the agreed fallback procedures and shall be used in situations where the master of the vessel is not able to comply with the reporting requirements, either due to technical problems on board the vessel or communication problems between the vessel and its FMC. The FMC marking may also be used in situations where communication problems between the FMC and the NEAFC Secretariat delay the data exchanges. The FMC marking will indicate that the FMC has assisted the fishing vessel by handling the report on behalf of the master, after individual evaluation and validation of a report.

8. Member States, EFCA and the Commission may request from the NEAFC Secretariat a return message every time an electronic transmission of a report or message is transmitted in the format specified in Annex XI.

9. All reports and messages communicated pursuant to Articles 14, 15 and 16 shall be treated in a confidential manner.