HCM City (VNA) –The Vietnam Association ofSeafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) announced the White Book on fightingillegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Vietnam at a ceremony heldin Ho Chi Minh on January 14.
The bilingual book, in Vietnamese and English, has five chapters, providingdetailed information about Vietnam’s fishery sector and regulations on IUUfishing and enforcement in the country.
The book also reported on Vietnam’s efforts to remove thewarning under the European Commission’s “yellow card”, the VietnameseGovernment’s long-term action plan against IUU fishing, and recommendationsmade by stakeholders in the seafood value chain.
According to VASEP Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thu Sac, who is also head of theVASEP’s IUU control board, the publication devotes one chapter to underline theviewpoint and the message of zero tolerance for seafood sourced from IUUfishing from VASEP and Vietnamese seafood businesses.
VASEP and seafood enterprises are ready and resolved to team up with theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), as well as relevantparties to implement the action plan, the book said.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture andRural Development Vu Van Tam hailed the VASEP’s release of the white book as auseful initiative in the communication campaign against IUU fishing.
The book is expected to help the EC gain a betterunderstanding of the local fishery sector and the country’s efforts to improvethe IUU situation, thus soon withdrawing its “yellow card”, he said.
The debut of the book was made on the occasion of the celebration of thefishery sector’s completion of its export target of 8 billion USD in 2017.-VNA