Illustrative image (Source: VNA)The warning was made at a conference on seafood businesses’commitment to fight IUU fishing organised by the Vietnam Association of SeafoodExporters and Producers (VASEP) in Ho Chi Minh City on September 25.
If Vietnam is fined with a “yellow card”, all containers ofseafood originating from the country will be held to check product origins for3-4 weeks, said Ngo Viet Hoai, Deputy General Director of the Ba Ria-Vung TauSeafood Processing and Import Export JSC, whose export volume to the EUaccounts for 30 percent of its total export volume.
Even if the containers are allowed to be imported,Vietnamese companies have to pay 600-700 EUR per container in checking fees.But if they are rejected and returned, the transport cost can be 4,000-5,000 EURper container, he said, adding that the fees will add to product costs andreduce competitiveness of Vietnamese seafood in the EU market.
Nguyen Hoai Nam, VASEP Vice Secretary General, also notedthat if a country is fined with a “yellow card”, its name will be publicised onthe EU’s official websites and magazines, which will ruin the image andprestige of the country’s seafood sector.
Moreover, other markets such as the US may apply stricterregulations for Vietnamese products, Nam added.
VASEP Vice President Nguyen Thi Thu Sac said that Vietnam’sseafood sector still has time to meet IUU-related regulations.
However, it needs the involvement of the State in adjustingpolicies and legal mechanisms to well control fishing.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu VanTam affirmed that Vietnam does not tolerate any violations of other countries’waters and will punish violated fishing vessels strictly.
All fishing vessels will be installed with monitoringdevices in the coming time, while the ministry is considering the signing ofcooperation agreements with other countries to ensure legal fishing along with theestablishment of a hotline to prevent illegal fishing, Tam added.
At the conference, VASEP urged its members to participate inthe fight against IUU fishing. As a result, over 50 businesses committed to buyingonly seafood caught legally. The list of those businesses is published andregularly updated on VASEP’s portal at www.vasep.com.vn.
Vietnam earns around 1.9-2.2 billion USD per year fromexporting seafood, with the EU accounting for 16-17 percent of the total, or350-400 million USD.
EU played a leading role in the global fight against IUUfishing. The IUU regulation came into effect of October 1, 2010, aiming toensure that only seafood products certified by the national authorised body orexporting country are imported to or exported from EU.
The list of IUU fishing vessels will be regularly updated, which are definedby the Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs).
According to Deputy Head of the Directorate of Fisheries’ Technology Scienceand International Cooperation Department Nguyen Thi Trang Nhung, 24 countriesand territories had received penalty cards under the IUU regulation, includingcountries and territories with modern fishing fleets, of which 13 nations hadtheir penalty cards withdrawn thanks to improved management systems,including Ghana, Guinea, Panama and Papua New Guinea, as well as thePhilippines, the Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka.
Of the remainder, three nations were given red cards - Cambodia, Conmoros, andSaint Vincent and Grenadines - and eight nations and territories were givenyellow cards, including Siera Leone, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, andTuvalu.-VNA
VNA
