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Transshipment and landing declarations, in electronic format, are now available to Parties to the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) through the PSMA Global Information Exchange System (GIES).

The new transshipment and landing forms are fully in-line with the Voluntary Guidelines for Transshipment. The forms support Parties to the PSMA in verifying information related to the transshipment and landing of catches.

Vessels can now submit these forms to port States, as part of their Advanced Request for Port Entry (ARPE) which, in turn, consider this information in their risk analysis and due diligence processes prior to taking a decision whether to allow a foreign vessel to enter their port or use their port services.

The release of these supplementary forms in the PSMA GIES, together with features introduced earlier such as the ARPE, and information on National Contact Points and Designated Ports, strengthen the implementation of the PSMA by Parties, making the information exchange process more efficient for States to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

In recent weeks, the PSMA Secretariat also released a Live Chat feature that allows direct and secure communication amongst Parties, non-Parties, and operators of foreign vessels seeking entry into port or use of port services, which is an added feature of the GIES to help detect IUU fishing.

The PSMA GIES was developed with funding from the Government of Iceland, which also supports its maintenance and operation together with the European Union. Development of ARPE was co-financed by the Government of Germany.