POLAND
various fish species. On that basis, they will attempt to recognise local stocks and races to facilitate the identification of imported goods and to be able to determine the origin of specific fish products. Such a database will be the first of its kind. The European Commission is highly interested in creating effective procedures in the EU and this project will allow the creation of unified rules of handling and identification of fish products throughout the European Union in the future. In spite of the extensive experience of customs officers in clearing fish products, there is a risk that a false declaration on the identity of unprocessed fish would go unnoticed if the goods are only subject to physical control. The risk is even higher in the
who are unaware that they are actually buying fish dishonestly imported.
Tissue samples from around the world
The database will serve as the reference point to compare samples from goods brought into Poland, which will conďŹ rm or rule out the species (or ďŹ shing ground) declared in the customs declaration.
case of fish product identity recognition. Apart from lower customs
revenues, the fraud also affects importers and final consumers,
The study envisages collecting 10,000 samples of fish tissue. For absolute certainty as to the place where fish were harvested, material will be collected directly from fishing vessels and, should that turn out to be impossible, from local markets. Fish species (selected for particular countries on the basis of FAO data analysis) will be photographed on the spot and geotagged (geographical location data added); the collection site will also be described. Once the samples are provided to
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Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011
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