The European Commission (EC) had earlier announced it would dispatch a working team to Vietnam last month to review the country’s efforts to handle illegal fishing. However, it missed the scheduled date, so the yellow card for the country’s seafood remains in place, Thanh Nien Online newspaper reported.

File photo of tra fish processing at a local firm

According to Nguyen Hoai Nam, deputy general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietnam has yet to receive any notification of a visit by the EC’s working team.

Meanwhile, the country’s seafood exports to the European Union have plunged.

Last year, Vietnam’s seafood exports to the bloc dropped by nearly 22% versus 2017. Meanwhile, the European Union is a key buyer of Vietnamese seafood, according to VASEP vice chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thu Sac.

In the 2013-2018 period, the European Union's seafood imports from Vietnam grew 8% annually on average, and accounted for one-third of the sector’s total export turnover. However, 2018 alone saw the shipments of many seafood products declining 4%-20%.

This year, the local aquatic sector set a target of US$10 billion in export revenue, with US$4.2 billion from shrimp, US$2.3 billion from tra fish and US$3.5 billion from seafood. To reach the export target, the yellow card should be removed.

Local news reports said the EC delayed its visit to Vietnam as it may need more time to assess the effectiveness of Vietnam’s Law on Fisheries, which was built based on the EC’s recommendations and officially took effect on January 1.

Late last year, an EC working team visited Vietnam to review the country’s efforts to have the yellow card on its seafood products lifted.

SGT