The European Commission (EC) recorded Viet Nam’s efforts in addressing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and would review its ‘yellow card’ warning against fisheries export in early next year.

The information was released by Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, following EC’s field inspection last month.

The agriculture ministry said despite considerable achievements, Viet Nam still struggles with IUU issue.

Currently, Viet Nam has some 110,000 active fishing vessels, with around 33,000 of them operating in offshore areas, but only a small portion of them are equipped with Movimar satellite geo-positioning devices.

Viet Nam authorities have admitted to EC that the country lacks the budget to fit all fishing vessels with proper tracking equipment. Viet Nam authorities also said that despite the country’s integration of EC’s recommendations into its 2017 fisheries law as well as other legal documents, this is lacking at local level.

The agriculture ministry said the two sides have agreed that the EC inspectors would return to Viet Nam in January next year to review whether to extend the yellow card, which has been issued by EC against Vietnamse aquaculture products since last year October 23.

The "yellow card" is followed by a "green card" if IUU issue is resolved or a "red card" if it isn’t. A “red card” can lead to a complete trade ban on fishery products.

EC also offered Viet Nam nine recommendations included revision of the legal framework to ensure compliance with international and regional rules applicable to the conservation and management of fisheries resources, ensuring the effective implementation and enforcement of the country’s revised laws, and strengthening the effective implementation of international rules and management measures.— VNS