Spain — Fish and Fish Products
Spain received 5 RASFF border-rejection notifications in Fish and Fish Products between 2023-Q3 and 2026-Q2. Volume is rising sharply year-on-year. The list below gives each of these 10 rejections by date and RASFF reference, with the country that notified it; 1 says what happened to the consignment.
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Key figures
If you import fish and fish products from Spain
- Chance a consignment is opened at the EU border
- Not on the EU's increased-checks list, so only member states' routine, risk-based checks apply (rates not published).
- If it is rejected
- Held, final fate not recorded 100%. A re-dispatched lot can be sold elsewhere, a treated or sorted one can be released once it complies, and a destroyed one is lost.
- Where rejections happen
- Spain (5), of 5 border rejections in the last 3 years.
The EU does not publish how many consignments are shipped, so no page can state a true probability of rejection; these are the figures that are published.
Quarterly rejections, last 12 quarters
Show the numbers
| Quarter | Notifications |
|---|---|
| 2023-Q3 | 0 |
| 2023-Q4 | 0 |
| 2024-Q1 | 0 |
| 2024-Q2 | 0 |
| 2024-Q3 | 0 |
| 2024-Q4 | 2 |
| 2025-Q1 | 0 |
| 2025-Q2 | 0 |
| 2025-Q3 | 2 |
| 2025-Q4 | 0 |
| 2026-Q1 | 0 |
| 2026-Q2 | 1 |
By commodity, last 156 weeks
| Commodity | Rejections | 1 rejection per | Per $1B EU imports | Most-cited hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuna | 4 | — | — | — |
| Other | 1 | — | — | — |
| Squid & Octopus | 0 | — | — | — |
| Other Fish/Seafood | 0 | — | — | — |
"1 rejection per X t": tonnes of the same product imported for every one, over the same 156 weeks. A dash means fewer than 5 in the window, or under 1,000 t a year imported, too few to rate; the total row pools every product that has import tonnes on record.
Recent rejections
- 2026.4972 Rotura de cadena de frío en atún a granel procedente de un buque pesquero español // Poor temperature control in bulk tuna from a Spanish fishing vessel. Notified by Spain.
- 2025.5728 rotura de la cadena de frío, atún salmuera ,España// Poor temperature control, Tuna in brine, Spain. Notified by Spain.
- 2025.5061 Rotura de cadena de frío en merluza de origen silvestre procedente de buque español.Poor temperature control in wild hake from a Spanish vessel. Notified by Spain.
- 2024.7413 Ruptura de la cadena de frío en atún de buque español. / Breakage of the cold chain in tuna from Spanish vessel. Notified by Spain.
- 2024.7381 Ruptura de la cadena de frío en atún de buque español. / Cold chain break in tuna from Spanish vessel. Notified by Spain.
- 2022.3479 Poor temperature control in octopus from the UK Notified by Spain.
- 2021.4559 parasitic infestation with Anisakis simplex of frozen hake (Merluccius hubbsi) from Spain, dispatched from Uruguay Notified by Poland. Re-dispatched.
- 2020.2081 Poor temperature control of frozen tuna from Seychelles Notified by Spain.
- 2020.0786 poor temperature control of the fish loaded from Seychelles Notified by Spain.
- 2020.0541 poor temperature control of fish Notified by Spain.
Found on the EU market: alerts and information notifications
Besides border rejections, 329 notifications since 2020 concerned fish and fish products from Spain found after entering the EU — 152 alerts, 177 information notifications. They are not part of the rejection figures or rates above, which measure border controls.
How they were found: official control on the market 80%, company's own check 12%, consumer complaint or illness 6%, monitoring or surveillance sample 2%, other 0%. 22 led to a recall from consumers.
Show the numbers
| Year | Total | Alerts | Information notifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 44 | 22 | 22 |
| 2021 | 65 | 20 | 45 |
| 2022 | 40 | 22 | 18 |
| 2023 | 53 | 18 | 35 |
| 2024 | 51 | 30 | 21 |
| 2025 | 40 | 26 | 14 |
| 2026 to date | 36 | 14 | 22 |
- 2026.9198 info: attention Mercury in defrosted Albacore tuna-Thunnus albacares- from Spain Notified by Italy. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 1,6 ± 0.5 (limit 1 mg/kg - ppm). mercury
- 2026.8998 info: attentionhistamine in frozen tuna from Spain // istamina in tonno congelato dalla Spagna Notified by Italy. Official control on the market, reached the market, destroyed. Result >2000 (limit 100/200 mg/kg - ppm). histamine
- 2026.8951 alertMercury levels exceeding legal limits in frozen swordfish from Spain Notified by Italy. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 1,76 mg (limit 1 mg /kg). mercury
- 2026.8759 alertHigh content of mercury in swordfish fillet from Spain Notified by Italy. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 2,6 (limit 1 mg/kg - ppm). mercury
- 2026.8619 alertMercury in thawed swordfish fillets, flavored Notified by Italy. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 2.2 (limit 1 mg/kg - ppm). mercury
- 2026.8348 info: attentionHigh content of mercury in swordfish fillet from Spain Notified by Croatia. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 1,7 (limit 1 mg/kg dry matter). mercury
- 2026.7419 alert Mercurio in Trance di verdesca senza pelle congelato proveniente dalla Spagna///Mercury in frozen skinless blue shark steaks from Spain Notified by Italy. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 2.9±0.7 (limit 1 mg/kg - ppm). mercury
- 2026.7285 alert przekroczenie NDP kadmu w kalamarach patagońskich/// exceedance of the MRL for cadmium in Patagonian squid//Cadmio por encima de los límites establecidos en calamar patagónico Notified by Poland. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 3,14 ± 0,35 (limit 1 mg/kg - ppm). cadmium
- 2026.6881 info: attentionMercury in swordfish (Xiphias Gladius) from Spain Notified by Italy. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 1,5 (limit 1 mg/kg - ppm). mercury
- 2026.6724 info: attentionmercurio in tonno dalla Spagna/mercury in thawed yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), vacuum-packed, from Spain // Mercurio en atún de aleta amarilla (Thunnus albacares) descongelado, envasado al vacío, procedente de España Notified by Italy. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 1,4 (limit 1 mg/kg - ppm). mercury
Data and downloads
Download all 339 entries (CSV) — every notification behind this page, border rejections and those found on the market, with how each was found and what was done.
The file holds entries up to 2026-10-16. To get new ones for Spain by email, watch Spain.
Spain country report since 2020 — all notification types, not just border rejections →