S.L. 425.18 Art. 3Functions of the Director. Cap. 12.

(1) Without prejudice to any other function, responsibility and power in accordance with the Act or any other law, as well as any other function provided in these regulations, the functions of the Director shall in particular include those listed under sub-regulations (2) to (5).

(2) The Director shall:

(a) prescribe such declarations, forms and additional procedures as he may deem necessary or expedient to comply with the obligations according to these regulations, and particularly so when these are required by international law and, or by RFMOs;

(b) take action, as necessary or expedient, towards the fulfilment of all the provisions of these regulations and for doing so he may, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing and any other power or responsibility according to law:

(i) require the provision of any information, document, object or copy thereof from any person and, or operator as he may deem relevant or expedient to fulfil the provisions of these regulations;

(ii) order the temporary cessation of any activity regulated by these regulations or having an effect thereon;

(iii) suspend or revoke any authorisation issued according to these regulations;

(iv) seize, store and, or destroy any fish, tool, gear or other object as he may order and in doing so he may charge the expenses against the operator concerned;

(v) exercise all powers as are vested in him according to the Act for the purposes of mutatis mutandis these regulations:

Provided that any expenses related to the seizure, including the expenses due for the haulage of the merchandise, transportation and storage of the seized fish, shall be charged against the operator and such expenses shall be considered as civil debt and an executive title at law and particularly so for the purposes of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure.

(3) Without prejudice to any other function, responsibility and power in accordance with the Act or any other law, the Director is hereby empowered to act towards the fulfilment of any obligation, commitment or objective binding on Malta and, or on operators under Maltese jurisdiction, as applicable according to European Union law and, or international law, in relation to the bluefin tuna aquaculture sector:

Provided that in fulfilment of this sub-regulation and all his responsibilities under these regulations, the Director shall consider the provisions of ICCAT Recommendation 21-08 as in force and, or as subsequently amended or substituted from time to time:

Provided further that without prejudice to the generality of this sub-regulation, the Director shall be competent for the aforesaid fulfilment and any specific power to be exercised by Malta or which could be exercised at Malta’s discretion shall be deemed to vest in the Director without the need of any further ratification or enactment.

(4) Without prejudice to sub-regulation (3), the Director may publish a list of particular applicable instruments in acocrdance with European Union law and, or international law by means of a Government Notice published in the Gazette, exclusively so as to draw the particular attention of operators on certain applicable obligations according to the same instruments:

Provided that without prejudice to sub-regulation (3) and any other law, the publication as referred in this sub-regulation shall lead to a presumption that the legal instruments listed juris et de jure are enforceable in Malta by the Director.

(5) The Director may also:

(a) communicate information related to the BFT trade operations whether to third countries or to European Union institutions, Member States or international bodies when the Director deems it fit in the interest of the same sector, or in the interest of the sustainability, control, enforcement or management thereof;

(b) delegate the exercise of any of his responsibilities and, or powers according to these regulations to such persons as he may designate and according to such conditions as he may deem fit;

(c) without prejudice to any other law and when not specifically provided for in these regulations, order the seizure in part or in whole BFT as may be held by any person, when such seizure is necessary or adequate to fulfil any obligation in accordance with these regulations and particularly so with respect to obligations referred to under sub-regulation (3).

(6) The Director or his delegates shall order and carry out inspections at packing points according to randomly chosen patterns:

Provided that operators are bound to make the identified premises available to the relevant officers whenever inspections may be ordered by the Director.

(7) Anything done by the Director or his delegates according to this regulation, save if it was expressly indicated otherwise, shall be binding at law on all operators concerned.