The European Union is the largest importer of seafood products in the world, representing 24 percent of the total value of world trade. This means that thousands of kilos of fish enter the European market every day.

To certify the legality of the fish, catch certificates are required to accompany seafood products imported into the EU.

However, surprisingly in the digital era, the EU CC system is still paper-based, allowing significant opportunity for document fraud, jeopardising the traceability of products, and therefore still allowing illegal fish to be sold and consumed in European countries.

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