DIRECTORATE OF FISHERIES

According to the leaders of the MARD, to overcome the “yellow card”, the Vietnamese fisheries sector still has some big challenges. In particular, there are many holes in the control of catching and tracing of exploited aquatic products. Fishing control also reveals many issues that need to be addressed. Currently, Vietnam has nearly 110,000 fishing vessels, of which about 33,000 fishing vessels are offshore (capacity of 90 CV or more), but only about 3,000 vessels are equipped with Movimar satellite positioning equipment. Thus, the number of vessels required to install the satellite positioning equipment is very big. The Vietnamese side has announced information for transparency, and shared with the EC that Vietnam is lacking funds to install the equipment for fishing vessels and will make great efforts to overcome it in the coming time. In addition, although Vietnam has incorporated the EC recommendations into the Fisheries Law of 2017, decrees, guidelines, etc., it is necessary to promote implementation in the localities.

The leaders of MARD also said that the two sides agreed that in January 2019, the EC delegation will return to look at the “yellow card” for Vietnam fisheries. For Vietnam, the basic issue is that the two sides have actually joined and do not create barriers, not causing congestion for goods, the two sides also actively share to better understand each other.

Previously, on 23/10/2017, the European Commission (EC) announced the application of yellow card warning measures for Vietnam’s seafood products exported to the European Union (EU) markets. At the same time, the EC made nine recommendations that Viet Nam should implement immediately in 6 months (from 23 October 2017 to 23 April 2018), including: Ensuring the effective implementation and enforcement of national laws modification; Strengthening the effective implementation of international rules and management measures through a full sanction enforcement and monitoring system; Overcoming shortcomings identified in the inspection, control and monitoring (MCS) related to the requirements of international and regional regulations and within the framework of the catch certification scheme; strengthening management and improvement of the registration and licensing system; Balancing fishing capacity and fishing fleet policy; enhancing the traceability of fishery products and taking all necessary steps, in accordance with international law, to prevent illegal fishery products from being traded and imported into Vietnam; Strengthening cooperation with other countries (especially coastal states in the seas where vessels with the Vietnamese flag can operate) in accordance with international obligations; Ensuring compliance with reporting obligations and preservation in RFMOs (regional fisheries management organizations).

Nhu Nguyet