The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has proposed urgent measures to tackle the European Commission’s illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) yellow card in March as the EU will assess Vietnam’s efforts to fight IUU fishing in April.

Shrimp processing for export

In its recent dispatch sent to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Directorate of Fisheries (DoF), VASEP suggested the DoF work with the association to chair a conference evaluating the implementation of activities to deal with the yellow card to help MARD and DOF leaders to solve shortcomings.

The association asked the MARD to allow the participation of representatives from its IUU Steering Committee in the ministry’s working delegation to the EU and the Republic of Korea to discuss the issue.

It will work with the DoF in translating related reports and legal documents from Vietnamese to English and vice versa, the dispatch wrote. 

According to the dispatch, VASEP members have committed to purchasing and importing seafood from legal fishing vessels with clear origin and not buying seafood of fishing vessels caught illegally by hanging banners with the commitment in front of their factories.

VASEP suggested the MARD to send a document to localities to expand communications on the fight.

Vietnam received a “yellow-card” from the European Commission (EC) because of its failure to meet standards over IUU fishing on October 23, 2017.

It has been offered the opportunity to take measures to rectify the situation within six months. 

To this end, the EC has proposed an action plan for the country. The "yellow card" is followed by a "green card" if issues are resolved or a "red card" if they are not. A “red card” can lead to a trade ban on fishery products.-VNA