Untangling ‘four knots’, Vietnam will remove the IUU yellow card

There were times when the red card was close

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien, thanks to great efforts from localities, ministries and sectors under the direction of the Secretariat, the Government and the Prime Minister, after three inspections, the European Commission (EC) confirmed Vietnam’s positive changes in countering illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Some notable actions include improving infrastructure quality as well as strengthening fleet management and supervision, handling administrative violations, traceability.

Vietnam has had the Law on Fisheries 2017 effective since 2019 and a series of Decrees, Circulars were constructed after seeking consultation from the European side. As for the feedback, with such a system of legal documents, Vietnam now has all the conditions to enforce the law and aim to have the yellow card removed.

“Managing and monitoring the fleet is a huge problem. Although we have installed 95% of cruise monitoring equipment, the remaining ships are subject to a high risk of violations. There are still ships violating foreign waters. From the beginning of 2023 until now, we have had 6 fishing vessels violating foreign waters, including 3 ships of Binh Dinh, 1 ship of Khanh Hoa, 2 ships of Binh Thuan," said Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien.

The leader of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also said that many provinces only made a record when they were informed about the violation of local fishing boats. They did not take administrative action in accordance with Decree No. 42/2019/ND-CP of the Government regarding regulations on sanctioning administrative violations in the fisheries sector. As a result, the enforcement of the law has not been uniform and ineffective.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has also assigned the Department of Animal Health and the Department of Fisheries Surveillance to review documents concerning seafood traceability, management of products imported and caught at sea. 

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said, “The IUU yellow card warning greatly affects the lives of fishermen as well as Vietnam’s seafood industry. The procedure to export to Europe used to take only 1-3 days, now it is 2-3 weeks, thus increasing costs and affecting product quality. Not being able to remove the yellow card also poses certain effects on Vietnam’s position as a reliable and responsible partner in the international market".

Investigate and handle 100% of cases of fishing vessels caught on foreign water

On February 13, 2023, the Government issued Decision No. 81/QD-TTg promulgating the Action Plan against IUU fishing, preparing to work with the 4th EC Inspection Delegation. In terms of the legal framework, mechanisms and policies, the Decision sets the goal of reviewing, amending and supplementing legal documents based on the EC's recommendations, ensuring conformity with the actual situation according to the order and procedures in an abbreviated manner.

As for fleet management and monitoring, inspection and control of fishing vessel activities, the Decision stated the task to review and statistic the entire number of local fishing vessels, complete 100% of the registration and marking of fishing vessels, grant fishing licenses, install vessel monitoring system (VMS) to all fishing vessels according to regulations. 100% of fishing vessel data will be updated to the Vietnam Fisheries Database System (VNFishbase). A list of fishing vessels not engaged in fishing and vessels with a high risk of IUU fishing violations will also be formed and sent to the relevant authorities, from which specific units and individuals will monitor and manage.

Regarding certification and traceability of caught fishery products, it is necessary to carry out confirmation of traceability of caught seafood according to the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, ensuring all records of goods exported to the EU and other markets have traceability of exploited seafood materials as per requirements.

Concerning law enforcement and handling of violations, the Decision requires the cessation of vessels illegally fishing in foreign waters, investigation of 100% of cases of Vietnamese fishing vessels arrested by foreign countries, and appliance of sanction 100% of cases of illegal fishing activities notified by foreign countries or exposed through mass media.