eCDT VN application: Hope ship owners to invest in tablets to boldly apply

Require transparency in the origin of exploited seafood

In order to remove the "yellow card" warning of the European Commission (EC) and overcome shortcomings and limitations according to the EC's recommendations at the 4^th inspection in October 2023, the Directorate of Fisheries (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) has accelerated the completion progress to put into use the "Electronic Catch Documentation and Traceability System (eCDT VN)" from early 2024.

The implementation of eCDT VN is one of the important contents to evaluate the results of implementing two major recommendations of the EC, including: Deploying the output control database that the Directorate of Fisheries is deploying to all provinces to help more effectively control the fleet and landing output of each locality, even if those ships dock and unload at other localities' fishing ports. Deploying the construction of a centralized database to manage certificates of raw seafood and certificates of the origin of exploited seafood.

Director of the Directorate of Fisheries Tran Dinh Luan: "Using the software is quite simple, so we hope ship owners will invest in a tablet to boldly apply it."

Mr. Vu Duyen Hai, Head of the Fisheries Exploitation Department under the Directorate of Fisheries, said that after the EC Inspection Delegation's inspection sessions, the EC has repeatedly recommended that Vietnam needs to improve the exploited seafood traceability system in the safest, most complete, error-minimizing way.

The Directorate of Fisheries has developed the eCDT VN system to meet the EC's requirements. Currently, the software is active in the entire process of managing fishing activities, from ship departure management to output monitoring and the issuance of certificates of raw seafood (SC) and certificates of the origin of exploited seafood (CC). From there, we can have raw materials of guaranteed legal origin, which can be exported to the EU market in particular, as well as all markets that require transparent, objective, and accurate traceability.

Mr. Tran Dinh Luan, Director of the Directorate of Fisheries, said that to serve the work of digital transformation and administrative procedure reform, and importantly, transparency in traceability of exploited seafood, the Directorate of Fisheries and specialized units have recently designed eCDT VN software.

eCDT VN software has been designed methodically in all chains related to the operation and business of fishing products, from ship owners associated with fishing vessels, fishing ports, border guard units, sub-departments, and businesses to help us trace the chain of exploited seafood.

"In the application of eCDT VN, all participating members have a very important role and position to ensure transparency in the entire process of ships departing, exploiting seafood at sea until ships docking, and being identified and confirmed by functional agencies as having complied with the legal regulations," emphasized Director Tran Dinh Luan.

What to do to overcome difficulties?

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eCDT VN application: Fishermen see benefits but are still confused

According to Mr. Vu Duyen Hai, the biggest difficulty in implementing eCDT VN is that the information technology capacity, skills, and knowledge of officials and employees at fishing ports to support fishermen in accessing the system are lacking. The second difficulty is that the current qualifications and skills of fishermen are still limited.

Director Tran Dinh Luan also admitted that the implementation and application of eCDT in recent times have still encountered many difficulties. Because the initial transition from paper declaration to information technology application still has a lot of confusion.

"In addition, some members participating in the chain are not confident and trust in the application of information technology to ensure transparency and accuracy," added Mr. Luan.

Director Tran Dinh Luan said that, faced with those problems, in recent times, the Directorate of Fisheries has worked with units such as fishing ports, fishermen, sub-departments, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporter and Producer (VASEP), and businesses so that all parties can clearly see the role and benefits of using eCDT VN, which is to make management easier, with fewer people and higher accuracy.

"We see that many localities have now clearly seen the benefits of eCDT VN software and started to apply it. Recently, the number of people using eCDT VN software to manage ships entering and leaving ports has increased and has also begun to issue SC and CC certificates. We believe that, in the coming time, together with specialized agencies and businesses, the application of eCDT VN software will increase significantly," informed the Director of the Directorate of Fisheries.

At the same time, Mr. Tran Dinh Luan expected: "The Directorate of Fisheries designs eCDT VN software that can be applied on both Android and iOS operating systems. Using the software is quite simple, so we hope ship owners will invest in a tablet to boldly apply it, thereby receiving documents more conveniently and ensuring higher accuracy without having to come in person.".