[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 50, Volume 4]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 50CFR635.43]

[Page 255-256]
 
                    TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
 
                         DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
 
PART 635--ATLANTIC HIGHLY MIGRATORY SPECIES--Table of Contents
 
                   Subpart D--Restrictions on Imports
 
Sec. 635.43  Contents of documentation.

    (a) A BSD, to be deemed complete, must state:
    (1) The document number assigned by the country issuing the 
document.
    (2) The name of the country issuing the document, which must be the 
country whose flag vessel harvested the bluefin tuna , regardless of 
where the bluefin tuna is first landed.
    (3) The name of the vessel that caught the fish and the vessel's 
registration number, if applicable.
    (4) The name of the owner of the trap that caught the fish, if 
applicable.
    (5) The point of export, which is the city, state or province, and 
country from which the bluefin tuna is first exported.
    (6) The product type (fresh or frozen) and product form (round, 
gilled and gutted, dressed, fillet, or other).
    (7) The method of fishing used to harvest the fish (e.g., purse 
seine, trap, rod and reel).
    (8) The ocean area from which the fish was harvested (i.e., western 
Atlantic, eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean, or Pacific).
    (9) The weight of each fish (in kilograms for the same product form 
previously specified).
    (10) The identifying BSD tag number, if landed by vessels from 
countries with tagging programs.
    (11) The name and license number of, and be signed and dated in the 
exporter's certification block by, the exporter.
    (12) If applicable, the name and title of, and be signed and dated 
in the validation block by, a responsible government official of the 
country whose flag vessel caught the bluefin tuna (regardless of where 
the bluefin tuna are first landed) or by an official of an institution 
accredited by said government, with official government or accredited 
institution seal affixed, thus validating the information on the BSD.
    (13) As applicable, the name(s) and address(es), including the name 
of the city and state or province of import, and the name(s) of the 
intermediate country(ies) or the name of the country of final 
destination, and license number(s) of, and be signed and dated in the 
importer's certification block by each intermediate and the final 
importer.
    (b) An approved BSD may be obtained from NMFS to accompany exports 
of bluefin tuna from the United States. A bluefin tuna dealer in a 
country that does not provide an approved BSD to exporters may obtain an 
approved BSD from NMFS to accompany exports to the United States.
    (c) A dealer who exports bluefin tuna to the United States may use 
the approved BSD obtainable from NMFS or a document developed by the 
country of export, if that country submits a copy to the ICCAT Executive 
Secretariat and NMFS concurs with the ICCAT Secretariat's determination

[[Page 256]]

that the document meets the information requirements of the ICCAT 
recommendation. In such case, NMFS will provide a list of countries for 
which BSDs are approved, with examples of approved documents, to the 
appropriate official of the U.S. Customs Service. Effective upon the 
date indicated in such notice to the U.S. Customs Service, shipments of 
bluefin tuna or bluefin tuna products offered for importation from said 
country(ies) may be accompanied by either that country's approved BSD or 
by the BSD provided to the foreign country exporter by NMFS.

[64 FR 29135, May 28, 1999, as amended at 66 FR 42805, Aug. 15, 2001]