Brussels (VNA) – Vietnam’s resolve to fightillegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing has been reiterated by thecountry’s representatives at a press conference on April 25 at the Seafood ExpoGlobal in Brussels, Belgium.

The April 25 event aimed to update the press andEuropean seafood importers on measures Vietnam is taking to combat IUU fishing,a problem on which the European Commission (EC) issued a yellow card warning toVietnam last September.

Nguyen Thi Trang Nhung, Deputy Director of theDepartment of Science, Technology and International Cooperation under theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said Vietnam has obtainedpositive outcomes in the issue.

The most important outcome is the Law onFisheries, approved on November 21, 2017, which details IUU fishing activitiesand stipulates strict punishments compared to administrative penalties forviolations in other fields.

Efforts of the whole political system of Vietnamhave resulted in observable advances in the certification of seafood origin andcontrol of fishing boats’ activities, she added.

As the yellow card could affect the prestige andtrade of Vietnamese seafood in the European and global markets, the VietnamAssociation of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and businesses have alsomade every effort to cooperate with authorised agencies and with one another tofight IUU fishing over the last six months.

[Vietnam works towards sustainable, responsible 🦹fisheries]

Le Hang, a representative of VASEP, said theassociation has regularly updated the list of fisheries businesses committingto IUU fishing prevention on its website in both English and Vietnamese, thusshowing Vietnamese firms’ consensus and determination to EU importers andmanagerial agencies.

She noted that after the EU issued the yellowcard warning, seafood exports to this market have declined as importers havebecome more cautious and worried that tightened examination of imports couldtake them more cost and time.

Nguyen Xuan Nam, Chairman of the board ofdirectors of the Hai Vuong Co. Ltd, told Vietnam News Agency that the EU is avery important market and some of his company’s clients have expressed concernabout the risk of a red card, which can lead to a trade ban on fisheryproducts, after the yellow card. His company has actively informed its clientsabout Vietnam’s solutions to soon lift the yellow card and avoid red card.

Brian Cullinane, purchasing director at Pan EuroFoods – an Irish company that has imported Vietnamese aquatic products for fiveyears, said the EU’s yellow card warning is a relatively new issue and almosthasn’t affected the market much, but the situation could worsen in the next twoor three years if Vietnam failed to lift the yellow card.

On April 20, Vietnam submitted a report on itsefforts to address IUU fishing to the EC. The EU is set to send a delegation toVietnam between May 15 and 25 to assess local IUU fishing prevention.-VNA