Vice Chairman of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam Rubén Saornil Mínguez (Source: nongnghiep.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – Vice Chairman of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce inVietnam Rubén Saornil Mínguez recently appreciated efforts by the VietnameseGovernment, businesses and fishermen in fighting illegal, unreported andunregulated (IUU) fishing following the European Commission (EC)’srecommendations.
He made the assessment when attending a conference themed“Promoting Tuna Value Chain, Combating IUU Fishing and Exporting Tuna to EU inline with the EVFTA Commitments” in the central province of Khanh Hoa onOctober 10, the Nong nghiep (Newspaper of Agriculture) reported.
To implement EC recommendations, Vietnam issued theFisheries Law 2017 and guiding documents towards sustainable aquaculture andfishery development. And to boost strict enforcement, the country set up anational steering committee for IUU fishing prevention and has required allfishing vessels to install position monitoring devices.
The moves show that the country has made a remarkableimprovement compared to what it did in the previous inspection, he reportedly affirmed.
As of August 31, 24,851 out of the 30,851 fishing vessels,each with the length of 15m and above, or 80.61 percent of the total fleet hadbeen equipped with the vessel monitoring systems.
Rubén also reportedly spoke highly of Vietnam’s moves tointensify the traceability of aquatic products in the supply chain, wellcontrol fishing vessels in and out of fishing ports, as well as the output ofseafood handled at the ports, and build ships in accordance with Vietnamese andEU standards.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien and Vice Chairman of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam Rubén Saornil Mínguez visit tuna processing plant of Hai Vuong Limited Company (Source: nongnghiep.vn) In addition, the country has also made a master plan for theexploitation and protection of aquatic resources so as to streamline thefishing vessel fleet in accordance with reserves as well as sustainable andresponsible fisheries development.
The official acknowledged Vietnam’s efforts to contributeideas for regional and international fisheries organisations, especially thoseinvolved in the sustainable fisheries development, for example the United NationsFish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA), the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent,Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (PSMA), and theASEAN IUU Network.
He stated that Vietnam currently ranks third in the world interms of seafood exports, while the EU is a large seafood consuming market witharound 22kg per person per year. Therefore, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreementis a good chance for Vietnam’s aquatic products.
The official stressed the need for Vietnam totrace the origin of aquatic products and avoid IUU fishing./.
VNA
