Heavy fines for illegal fishing

The representative of the European Union (EU) recommended that Vietnam should have sanctions and increase the level of penalties for illegal and unregulated fishing.

This is one of the strong measures to overcome the situation of illegal fishing (IUU) that can affect seafood export activities of Vietnamese enterprises to the EU.

Ms. Miriam Garcia Ferrer, First Counselor and Head of the EU Trade and Economic Affairs Section in Vietnam, testified to the case of Thailand being warned by the EU with a "yellow card" for failing to meet regulations on combating IUU fishing since April 2015.

Since then, although the country has made many efforts and implemented a number of solutions such as changing the legal framework, implementing traceability, managing fishing vessels... there is still not enough basis for the country to have the "yellow card" removed.

Legal exploitation will facilitate Vietnam's seafood exports.

As a result, the Thailand-EU FTA has not yet been ratified, causing Thai businesses to miss many opportunities to develop trade.

“With the EU yellow card warning, if Vietnam fails to meet international standards and EU regulations on combating IUU fishing in the coming time, not only will Vietnamese seafood be given a “red card” and banned from being exported to the EU, but it will also greatly affect the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA),” said Ms. Miriam Garcia Ferrer.

Not only is there a risk of affecting the ratification process of the EVFTA, Vietnam's seafood exports are at risk of being affected in a number of other major markets if they receive a "red card" from the EU.

Not only that, all Vietnamese seafood products, including those with imported raw materials, are not allowed to be imported into the EU.

Worryingly, since January 2018, the US has also begun to deploy anti-IUU.

Immediately after receiving the "yellow card" warning from the EU, Vietnam has implemented a number of remedial solutions according to the EU's recommendations.

The contents of these recommendations mainly relate to the legal framework and enforcement; fleet management and exploitation capacity; inspection, control and supervision activities; certification system of exploited aquatic products and traceability; issues related to illegal fishing vessels. Including controlling and preventing foreign vessels from illegally fishing in Vietnam's waters and Vietnamese vessels from illegally fishing in other countries' waters.

According to Ms. Miriam Garcia Ferrer, the EU's recommendations on IUU are not imposed or rigid, but provide Vietnam with reference to international standards to include regulations in the draft revised Fisheries Law.

This is also an opportunity for the Vietnamese seafood industry to change in a more positive direction, to improve information management policies, seafood resource management, and fishing plans.

Then Vietnam's seafood will be more abundant, exploited more sustainably, and its reputation will increase.

It is known that in the near future, the Working Group of the Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG-MARE) of the European Commission (EC) will come to inspect the implementation of IUU regulations in Vietnam.

According to Chinhphu.vn