Hanoi (VNA) – A delegation of the EuropeanCommission (EC) is visiting Vietnam from May 15-24 to inspect the outcomes ofthe country’s measures to control illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

On October 23, 2017, the EC issued a "yellow card" warning toVietnam, after the country failed to demonstrate sufficient progress in thefight against fishing worldwide.

 According to EC’s requirement,the Vietnamese seafood sector had to implement nine recommendations in sixmonths from October 23, 2017, to April 23, 2018.

Talking to the press on issues related to the removal of theyellow card for sustainable export of aquatic products to the European market, DeputyMinister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam said the Governmentand the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) along with localadministrations have undertaken drastic and uniform measures to curb IUUfishing.

He noted that the National Assembly has passed the Law onFisheries which stipulates strict sanctions against IUU practice. So far twodecrees and nine circulars have been issued to guide the enforcement of the law,including one decree on administrative fines with detailed stipulations onIUU-related violations.

According to the Deputy Minister, functional agencies,including the Directorate ofFisheries and agencies under the MARD, have thoroughly studied the ninerecommendations of the EC. Before the Fisheries Law 2017 took effect, the PrimeMinister, the MARD and People’s Committee of provinces issued instructions andplans of actions to implement contents in the EC’s recommendations. The focusof measures undertaken by functional agencies was educational campaigns toraise the awareness of fishery management agencies, enterprises and fishermen,thus changing their behaviours in fishing, trading and use of aquatic products.

Deputy Minister Tamsaid the MARD and related localities are ready for the EC’s inspection,noting that the inspection will be conducted in random without priornotification.

Mentioning the installation of vessel tracking equipment onoff-shore fishing ships, the Deputy Minister said the Fisheries Law hasincluded stipulation on this issue, in line with the EU’s recommendation.

According to Tam,the installation of such equipment is being carried out under two projects, oneof which using the VX-1700 equipment which combines communication function andsatellite positioning under Decision 48/2010-QD-TTg. A total of 10,600 shipshave been equipped with this type of equipment.

The other project,funded by Official Development Assistance capital of the French Government,uses the more modern Movimar satellite positioning equipment. So far 3,000ships have been installed with Movimar.

However, the MARDaims to equip about 30,000 offshore fishing vessels with such equipment, Tamsaid, adding that the ministry also applies the method of keeping track of agroup of vessels through Movimar. The country’s fishing fleet has been divided into6,000 groups, each with between 7-10 ships. Thus the total number of installedequipment has almost covered all the offshore fishing vessels in Vietnam.