---
id: KB-AL-048
url: https://stage.codecontract.io/help/food-and-beverage/how-to-create-a-non-manipulation-document
idioma: en
categoria: sector-alimentacion
subcategoria: normativa-pesca
audiencia: usuario
nivel: avanzado
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-AL-046, KB-AL-049, KB-AL-044]
citadoPor: [KB-LG-016, KB-AL-046, KB-AL-049]
---

# 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._

**Responde a:** non manipulation document fisheries · non manipulation document traces · storage in a third country fish · catch nm serial number · re-exporting stored unprocessed fish

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.

> [!WARNING]
> 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.

> [!NOTE]
> **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.

## Ejemplos

**The warehouse provides gross weight instead of net.**

- Requests both weighings in writing at contracting

→ The document reconciles first time.

**The weight is rejected for using a comma and thousands separator.**

- States the required format in the request itself

→ It arrives usable.

**Nobody knows which document this one hangs from.**

- Links each document to its predecessor

→ The full chain can be walked.

**The decision arrives by email and gets lost among others.**

- Records the formality's status in the file

→ The outcome does not depend on an inbox.