Administrative violations in the fishing industry must be dealt with severely

On October 2, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien hosted a working session with a representative from the Ministry of Justice to discuss the draft amended Resolution of Decree No.42/2019/ND-CP governing the handling of administrative violations in the fisheries sector.

Beginning the meeting, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien noted that Vietnam's extensive coastline and large number of vessel fleets have made the administration of offshore seafood exploitation activities challenging. On the other hand, in order to remove the European Commission's "yellow card" for IUU activity, it is essential to concentrate on four issues: administrative violations; fleet management; origin traceability; and fleet management.

The Deputy Minister emphasized, "Of the four issues listed above, managing administrative violations not only contributes to removing the "yellow card" for IUU fishing but is also a propelling force for the development of the fisheries industry. Therefore, it is necessary to manage it harshly and impose penalties based on the value of the violation."

Ms. Phan Thi Hue, Head of the Legal and Inspection Department (Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), stated that the unit has received, explained, and modified the draft amended Decree No. 42/2019/ND-CP in response to comments from the Ministry of Justice.

Specifically, the contents debated and apprehended include the management of ship proprietors and captains who violate regulations. Consequently, the treatment of these subjects will be determined by the captain's function. Although the sanction is the same as for the ship proprietor, there are additional penalties associated with the captain's license and certificate rights.

The second section outlines who is responsible for handling violations. Instead of specifying each position, it is determined by force.

In response to these contents, the representative of the Department of Administrative Violations - Ministry of Justice stated that they concurred with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's feedback and explanations. However, we also spend more time discussing remedial issues, for which the requirements must be more specific and comprehensive.

Also during the working session on the afternoon of October 2, the two Ministries also discussed further sanctions for "taking fishing vessels out of Vietnam's waters, except in cases of force majeure". Concerning this topic, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien proposed consulting the Ministry of Justice for guidance and design on how to rigorously implement EC regulations on fisheries exploitation while maintaining national defense security.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien stated that legal documents must be meticulously drafted. "There is no need to increase fines and force, but it must be handled earnestly, with the appropriate subjects and conduct. This will be the fundamental solution to removing the IUU yellow card, as emphasized by the Deputy Minister.

Mr. Phung Duc Tien elaborated that both ship proprietors and commanders must have a penalty mechanism, but that there must be case-specific regulations. In addition, the Deputy Minister requested that the Department of Fisheries absorb and modify the absent provisions as soon as possible.

The Fisheries Surveillance Department and the Fisheries Department also reported to Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien on issues related to the Fisheries Surveillance force's policies and original varieties in the field of fisheries, following the preceding discussions.

The aforementioned provisions are included in the draft Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 26/2019/ND-CP, which details a number of articles and measures to implement the Law on Fisheries. 

The Inspection Delegation of the European Commission (EC) is expected to include representatives of the Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG-MARE) and the EC Delegation to Vietnam.

The goal of the working trip is to evaluate the results of implementing the EC's recommendations at the EC's "yellow card warning" announcement on October 23, 2017. Which, the trip focuses on checking the delegation's recommendations after the third inspection in October 2022 to draw conclusions about whether to remove or maintain the "yellow card" warning for Vietnam's exploited seafood products.