Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, VASEP and the Vietnamese Embassy in Belgium hold a press conference at the Seafood Expo Global on April 25 to update on Vietnam’s efforts to fight IUU fishing. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - A working delegation of the European Commission(EC)’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries began afact-finding trip to Vietnam on May 15 to inspect the implementation of recommendationsrelated to the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing,said a local official.
The delegation will check at random the performance of the ninerecommendations in Vietnam’s coastal provinces and cities, then evaluate whatthe country has done and whether they have met the EC’s requirements, saidDeputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam.
At a working session with representatives from the Directorate of Fisherieson May 14, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuongaffirmed that Vietnam has been active in implementing the recommendations toensure responsible and sustainable fisheries.
Contents mentioned in the recommendations were included in the revisedLaw on fisheries, which will come intoeffect in 2019, Cuong added, stressing that this a great step that Vietnam hasdone so far, towards building sustainable and responsible fisheries industryand improving the income for local fishermen.
He affirmed departments under the MARD will work with the EC delegationin the spirit of highest responsibility, transparency and publicity, focusingon clarifying what have been done by Vietnam so that the EC can verify.
It is necessary to show achievements made by the country in the work,while listening to the EU’s suggestions, towards devising a specific actionprogramme to overcome shortcomings in the coming time, he noted.
On October 23, 2017, the EC issued a "yellow card" warning toVietnam, after the country failed to demonstrate sufficient progress in thefight against IUU fishing worldwide. Though the measure was considered awarning, which would not technically affect the EC trade policy, the Vietnamesefishing industry was concerned that the yellow card would seriously harm thereputation of Vietnamese seafood worldwide, thus weakening sales.
The recommendations included revision of the legal framework to ensurecompliance with international and regional rules applicable to the conservationand management of fisheries resources, ensuring the effective implementationand enforcement of the country’s revised laws, and strengthening the effectiveimplementation of international rules and management measures.
According to EC’s requirement, the Vietnamese seafood sector had toimplement the nine recommendations in six months from October 23, 2017, toApril 23, 2018.
The EC also wanted Vietnam to issue sanctions and increase the level ofsanctions against IUU fishing, which should be written in the revised Law on Fisheries,and give concrete evidence proving Vietnam’s efforts in the fight against IUUfishing.
On April 20, Vietnam submitted a report on its efforts to address IUUfishing to the EC.-VNA
VNA
