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1. Port Member States shall ensure that, following a notification transmitted pursuant to Article 28, the flag State of the fishing vessel intending to land or tranship or, where the fishing vessel has engaged in transhipment operations outside a port, the flag State or States of the donor vessels complete Part B of the PSC form to confirm or otherwise that:

(a) the fishing vessel which declared having caught the fish had sufficient quota for the species declared;

(b) the quantities of fish on board have been duly reported and taken into account for the calculation of any catch or effort limitations that may be applicable;

(c) the fishing vessels declared having caught the fish had authorisation to fish in the areas declared;

(d) the presence of the vessel in the area of catch declared has been verified according to VMS data.

2. The master of the fishing vessel shall not commence the landing or transhipment operations or make use of port services before authorisation has been given by the competent authorities of the port Member State by duly completing Part C of the PSC form through the NEAFC website, and the estimated time of arrival reported in the prior notification (PSC1 or PSC2) has expired. Such authorisation shall only be given if the confirmation from the flag State referred to in paragraph 1 has been received. However, landing, transhipment operations and the use of other port services may commence prior to estimated time of arrival with permission from the competent authorities of the port State.

3. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, the port Member State may authorise all or part of a landing in the absence of the confirmation from the flag State referred to in paragraph 1, subject to the following conditions:

(a) the fish concerned shall be kept in storage under the control of the competent authorities;

(b) the fish concerned shall only be released to be sold, taken over or transported once the confirmation referred to in paragraph 1 has been received; and (c) if the confirmation has not been received within 14 days of the landing, the competent authorities of the port Member State may confiscate and dispose of the fish in accordance with national rules.

4. Landing, transhipment and other use of port services shall not be authorised if the port Member State receives clear evidence that the catch on board was taken in contravention of applicable requirements of a Contracting Party in respect of areas under its national jurisdiction.

5. The competent authorities of the port Member State shall without delay notify their decision on whether or not an authorisation for landing, transhipment or other use of port services has been granted to the master of the vessel or the representative of the master, to the flag State of the vessel and to the NEAFC Secretariat by completing, where appropriate, Part C of the PSC form.