A fisherman and his catch off the coast of Nam Dinh province (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – Although Vietnam has made concrete efforts to fight illegal,unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, the country’s seafood exports willlikely face a bumpy ride ahead, said an official on August 23.
Vietnam has yetto establish an effective management mechanism from central to local levelsthat enforces policies against IUU fishing, Pham Ngoc Tuan, Deputy Director ofthe Directorate of Fisheries’ Department of Aquatic Resource Conservation andDevelopment, said at a conference on combating IUU fishing in Vietnam and thebusiness community’s cooperative efforts in Ho Chi Minh City.
Currently, there areno effective measures to detect and prevent Vietnamese fishing boats fromencroaching on foreign waters as the small administrative fines for violationsdo not act as much of a deterrent, he said.
Additionally, themonitoring system does not work effectively enough to control fishing boats’ activitiesat sea, nor record the species and quantity of fish brought ashore, Tuan noted,adding that the origin verification and legality of Vietnamese aquatic productsare also yet to meet European regulations on seafood traceability.
Since the EuropeanCommission (EC) issued a “yellow card” warning to Vietnam in October last year,the country’s seafood exports have shown signs of stagnation even though growthwas reported, said Le Hang from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exportersand Producers (VASEP).
The EU isVietnam’s second largest seafood importer, purchasing 350-400 million USD worthof local seafood annually, accounting for about 16-17 percent of the country’stotal seafood export revenue, she noted.
Vietnam saw anincrease of 7.4 percent in seafood exports during the first seven months of2018, with the growth of each export item lower than the same period last year,she explained. For example, exports of tuna from January to July expanded 10percent, compared to 22 percent in the first seven months of 2017; whileshipments of octopus rose by only 6 percent, compared to 52 percent last year.
Hang pointed outthat the EC’s yellow card ruling has had direct impact on Vietnam’s seafoodexports to the EU market and could even set off a domino effect in otherforeign markets.
In the long term,customers from the EU may stop orders from Vietnam and, at the same time, otherforeign markets are likely to impose stricter control on yellow card countrieslike Vietnam, she warned.
Furthermore, duringthe yellow card warning period, all imported seafood containers from Vietnamcan be stuck at customs for inspection from three to four weeks, meaningexporters will have to bear greater costs, not to mention that containers canbe sent back to Vietnam, she added.
To have theyellow card removed, Tuan stressed the need for Vietnam to stop illegal fishingin foreign waters. Vietnam has taken actions to reduce illegal fishing inforeign waters in the Pacific Ocean, yet many Vietnamese fishing vessels werecaptured in overlapped or disputed waters between Vietnam and other countriessuch as Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia.
“It is absolutelya drawback because even though the activities by those boats were not illegal, thearrests have negatively affected Vietnam’s reputation and the EC’s trust in thecountry. It will be challenging to push for the yellow card withdrawal if theproblem of sovereignty on the sea is not solved,” he said.
Tuan also urgedVietnamese producers to prepare certificates of origin in an honest manner toimprove the confidence of EU importers in Vietnamese products.
The EC issued a yellow card warning to Vietnam last year, afterthe country failed to demonstrate sufficient progress in the fight against IUUfishing worldwide. While the measure was only considered a warning, which shouldnot technically affect the EC’s trade policy, the Vietnamese fishing industrywas concerned that the yellow card would seriously harm the reputation ofVietnamese seafood worldwide, and thus weakening sales.
To address IUU fishing activities, the EC evaluates exportingcountries. Countries that fail to meet EC standards are issued a "yellowcard" warning, followed by a "green card" if issues are resolvedor a "red card" if they are not. A red card can lead to a trade banon fishery products.
According to EC requirements, the Vietnamese seafood sector had toimplement nine recommendations in six months from October 23, 2017through until April 23, 2018.
The nine recommendations included revisions of the legal frameworkto ensure compliance with international and regional rules, applicable to theconservation and management of fisheries resources; ensuring the effectiveimplementation and enforcement of the country’s revised laws; and strengtheningthe effective implementation of international rules and management measures.
The EC also wanted Vietnam to issue sanctions and increase thelevel of sanctions against IUU fishing, which should be written in the revisedLaw on Fisheries, and give concrete evidence proving Vietnam’s efforts in thefight against IUU fishing.–VNA
VNA
