The Commission improves shark trade monitoring, as part of the follow-up on European Citizens' Initiative

The European Commission is actively following up to the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) 'Stop finning – Stop the trade,' which asked the Commission for action to end international trade of loose shark fins. 

From January 2025, the Commission will step up monitoring of shark product trade thanks to 13 new tariff codes for sharks and their fins. These codes will enable the tracking of the most traded shark species, including the blue shark and shortfin mako. The Commission will closely monitor import and export data based on these new codes, and the data will be made available to the public through the Eurostat international trade database. 

The Commission has also completed the first stage of its impact assessment on a trade ban on detached fins and a range of alternative policy measures, conducted in response to the ECI. This first stage consisted of a thorough public consultation. The consultation, held between February and July 2024, included a call for evidence, an open public consultation and a dedicated stakeholders’ consultation event. The results of the consultation and a detailed report are now available.

The online consultation confirmed a high level of public interest in shark management and protection, with 3455 replies submitted mostly by EU citizens. The results show a clear expectation for the EU to take additional action to protect sharks.  

This consultation will guide further impact assessment work, including an external study that will be carried out over 2025. 

In the meantime, the Commission will continue its efforts to enforce existing EU measures and improve traceability. It is also leading global efforts to implement conservation and management measures for shark species and introduce a worldwide ban of shark finning. 

Background 

Sharks play a vital role in maintaining the balance of marine ecosystems and are vulnerable to human activities. Despite efforts to improve the conservation and management of sharks in recent years, many populations of sharks are in a critical situation. Over one third of shark species are threatened with extinction, i.e. considered critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable. The European Commission acknowledges that shark finning is one of the main threats for the conservation of these species.  

The EU is committed to the conservation and sustainable management of sharks, as well as of other marine biological resources, both within and outside the EU. Since 2003, the ‘Shark Finning Regulation' prohibits shark finning on EU vessels. 

The European citizens' initiative 'Stop finning – Stop the trade' was registered in January 2020 and submitted to the European Commission in January 2023.   

The Commission response to that initiative was formulated in the Communication of 5 July 2023. More stringent enforcement of existing policy measures has been a major part of the Commission commitments taken in the follow-up to the ECI, together with an international outreach to promote a worldwide ban on shark finning and reduction of shark fins’ consumption. Beyond this, the Commission has committed to give full consideration to potential trade measures requested and assess their potential environmental, economic and social impacts. This is now being done in the framework of the ongoing impact assessment. 

A European citizens' initiative allows 1 million citizens from at least seven EU countries to invite the European Commission to propose legal action in areas where the Commission has the power to do so.  

More information

• Summary report of the public consultation
• Commission Implementing Regulation 2024/2522 amending the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff 
• EU sharks’ protection and management  
• European Citizens’ Initiative “Stop Finning – Stop the Trade” 
• Commission’s communication in response to the ECI “Stop finning – Stop the Trade” 
• Press release - Commission welcomes European citizens' initiative and will explore ways to address trade in shark fins (July 2023) 
• European Commission’s ECI follow-up
• European Commission’s ECI response