CLECAT RAISES URGENT CONCERNS OVER MANDATORY CATCH IMPLEMENTATION
With the mandatory implementation of the EU Catch Certification IT system (CATCH) scheduled for 10 January 2026, CLECAT has taken urgent action to alert EU institutions to serious operational risks linked to the system’s current design and readiness.
On 8 January, CLECAT sent an urgent letter to the Cyprus Presidency, DG MARE and DG TAXUD, warning that the mandatory go-live of CATCH in its current form risks disrupting import flows, overburdening operators and undermining compliance capacity across the Union . While fully supporting the EU objective of combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing, CLECAT stressed that effective controls must be implemented through systems that are operationally viable and aligned with the realities of EU supply chains.
A concern raised in the letter is that CATCH is enforced at the point of import without being sufficiently embedded in the customs policy framework. CLECAT also warned of a significant administrative regression resulting from the system’s design assumptions. CATCH is built on the expectation that third-country authorities issue and validate electronic catch certificates directly in the system, yet most third countries are currently unable to do so. As a result, EU operators and their service providers must manually re-enter data from paper certificates and upload scanned documents, creating an unsustainable burden for operators handling large volumes and increasing the risk of errors, contrary to EU digitalisation and simplification objectives.
Further concerns relate to the absence of a mandate or delegation mechanism allowing importers to formally authorise customs agents or freight forwarders to act on their behalf within CATCH. This disrupts established operational practices, creates legal uncertainty regarding responsibility and liability, and increases the risk of delays at ports, particularly for perishable goods and just-in-time supply chains. In combination with uneven readiness across Member States, these shortcomings could lead to congestion, higher demurrage and detention costs, and wider supply chain disruption.
These issues are further elaborated in CLECAT’s recently published position paper on the mandatory implementation of CATCH, which sets out the operational, legal and systemic concerns identified by members and proposes concrete solutions. The paper calls for a coordinated transitional phase with administrative tolerance, urgent technical and governance improvements, and stronger horizontal coordination of import-related IT systems, preferably led by DG TAXUD, with systematic involvement of the logistics sector.