Food and beverage
How to create a non-manipulation document in TRACES
It evidences that goods were stored untouched. It is measured by weights: what went in and what came out.
When fishery product passes through a warehouse in a third country and leaves without being processed, you must be able to evidence exactly that: that it sat still and nothing happened to it. That is the non-manipulation document. Its logic differs from everything else in CATCH — it describes neither a catch nor a process but an absence, and an absence is demonstrated with two numbers that have to reconcile.
What the document actually compares
| Box | What it records | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Box 2 | Arrival details at storage | When it went in |
| Box 3 | Net weight on entry | The first half of the proof |
| Box 4 | Facility and form of storage | Where and how it sat |
| Box 5 | Net weight on exit | The second half |
| Box 6 | Departure details | When it left |
Important
Box 3 and Box 5 are the whole document: if the weights do not reconcile, there was no non-manipulation. Everything else is context. So the data to press the warehouse hardest for is weighing on entry and exit — and format matters: decimal point and no thousands separator, or the system rejects it.
Phase 1 — Create the document from its predecessor
- 1
Use «+ Non-Manipulation Document» on the CATCH search page
You need the «fishing exporter» activity approved.
- 2
Choose what it starts from
«From Catch Certificate», «From Processing Statement» or «From earlier Non-Manipulation Document». Never blank.
- 3
Fill «Box 1» (Declaring authority) and «Box 7» (Exporter details)
The authority to sign it and your own details.
- 4
Click «Save as Draft»
A draft serial number is assigned automatically.
Phase 2 — The weights, which are the proof
- 1
«Box 2»: arrival details at storage
When and how the goods came in.
- 2
«Box 3»: net weight on entry
Decimal point, no thousands separators.
- 3
«Box 4»: storage facility and form of storage
Where it sat and under what conditions.
- 4
«Box 5»: net weight on exit, and «Box 6»: departure details
The other half of the comparison.
- 5
«Box 7»: supporting documents, if any
Optional, but this is where the weighing evidence belongs.
- 6
Click «Save as Draft» again
Before submitting.
Phase 3 — Submit and await the decision
- 1
Click «Submit for verification»
It lands in «DECLARING AUTHORITY NOTIFIED», with serial «CATCH.NM» plus the country ISO code.
- 2
Watch «Notifications», top right
The decision arrives by email or in the application; that is where the result shows.
Watch out
The point that breaks files entirely: the weight is controlled by the warehouse, a third party in another country that does not know what you need it for. If they give you a rounded figure, or gross instead of net, the document does not reconcile and you go back to ask with the goods already moving. Requesting both weighings in writing when contracting the storage, not when processing, is what separates a formality from a lost week.
Worth knowing
Procedure verified in 2026-08 against the European Commission's official help (https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/IMSOC/tracesnt-help), non-manipulation document. TRACES is operated by the Commission and may change without notice. Whether this applies to you is for the competent authority and your adviser to determine.
›Can it be created without a prior document?
No: it starts from a certificate, a Processing Statement or an earlier non-manipulation document.
›Why is my weight rejected?
The format requires a decimal point and no thousands separator.
›Where do I see whether it was validated?
In «Notifications», top right, or by email.
A real case
The situation
The warehouse provides gross weight instead of net.
What you do
- Requests both weighings in writing at contracting
What you get
The document reconciles first time.
The situation
The weight is rejected for using a comma and thousands separator.
What you do
- States the required format in the request itself
What you get
It arrives usable.
The situation
Nobody knows which document this one hangs from.
What you do
- Links each document to its predecessor
What you get
The full chain can be walked.
The situation
The decision arrives by email and gets lost among others.
What you do
- Records the formality's status in the file
What you get
The outcome does not depend on an inbox.
This article answers
- non manipulation document fisheries
- non manipulation document traces
- storage in a third country fish
- catch nm serial number
- re-exporting stored unprocessed fish