[Background]
The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) in the United States was recently amended and enacted. As a result, fisheries exporting to the U.S. must now prove that their products are from fisheries with a low or negligible chance of accidentally catching marine mammals. This requirement will take effect on January 1, 2026.
To comply, this amendment specifies the details required for issuing export verification certificates for fishery products destined for the U.S. in accordance with Article 55, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 5 of the Fisheries Act and Article 32, Paragraph 3 of its Enforcement Decree.
[Main Points]
The amendment establishes a new set of procedures for exporting seafood to the United States to comply with the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
-An application for an export verification certificate must be submitted to the Director of the National Fishery Products Quality Management Service, along with supporting documents, for any coastal, deep-sea, or farmed fishery products intended for export to the U.S. (Proposed Article 4)
-The Director of the National Fishery Products Quality Management Service will review the submitted documents and issue the certificate if all requirements are met (Proposed Article 5).
-If the information provided in the application is found to be false after the certificate has been issued, the certificate will be revoked, and the applicant will be banned from receiving a new certificate for one year (Proposed Article 6).
-A verification certificate may be issued if there is a request for information on Korean fishery products exported to a third country other than the U.S. (Proposed Article 7).
-The application for a certificate must be processed within seven days of its submission, and copies of all certificates must be retained for three years (Proposed Article 8).
-The U.S. will compile and publish a list of fisheries based on its review of export country information. This list will be used to classify fisheries based on their interactions with marine mammals (Proposed Attachment 1).
