The Bahamas Maritime Authority has issued a bulletin outlining the requirements for refrigerated cargo ships carrying frozen fishery products to countries in the European Union (EU) in order to comply with EU regulation.
The EU has a number of regulations addressing the safety of food, with the aim of providing a high level of protection of human life and health for EU citizens.
The regulations require that ships flying the flag of non-EU countries, such as The Bahamas, are inspected by the relevant competent authority and appear on a list of approved establishments for importation of frozen fishery products to the EU.
The competent authority for ships registered in The Bahamas is the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), based in Nassau. DMR has delegated the inspection of Bahamian ships to Approved Nautical Inspectors (ANIs) appointed by the Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA).
Ships that have been satisfactorily inspected are assigned an approval number and appear on the list of approved establishments, which for The Bahamas is available online here
Bahamian ships importing frozen fishery products to the EU must have an approval number and appear on the list of approved establishments for The Bahamas before loading, shipping or importing frozen fishery products to the EU.
Companies operating affected Bahamian ships are respectfully advised that the regulations also apply to processing factories in The Bahamas and their ability to operate and export frozen fish products to the EU may be jeopardised by any failure of Bahamian ships to comply with the regulations.
Further details may be found herebelow
Source: BMA
