On 29 September 2008, the European Union adopted Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter, and eliminate IUU fishing, commonly referred to as the EU IUU Fishing Regulation.
The Implementing Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009 was adopted on 22 October 2009, and both Regulations entered into force on January 1, 2010. Since 2010, the Commission has investigated more than 200 cases involving vessels from 27 countries. As a consequence, sanctions against almost 50 vessels and roughly amounting to 8 million EUR have been imposed by flag and coastal states and both legislative and administrative reforms to improve catch certification and fleet monitoring have been introduced in several third countries .
The Commission regulation was amended on 29 January (No 86/2010) to revise the list of excluded fishery products and include administrative arrangements with third countries.
A second amendment was introduced on 28 May 2010 (No 468/2010) establishing an EU list of vessels engaged in IUU fishing .
Since 2012, the EU has warned “yellow carded”18 countries, (see table below for in depth details).
So far, 91 third countries have notified the Commission that they have the necessary legal instruments, the dedicated procedures and the appropriate administrative structures for the certification of catches by vessels flying their flag.