Authority to conduct fishing vessel inspections and possible violations subject to penalties
The Supplementary Protocol of the Government of Vietnam and China stipulates:
+ The civil servants of the Supervisory Authority of each side shall conduct inspections and controls on the people and fishing vessels of the two sides in the Common Fishery Zone within their respective waters. When conducting inspections and controls, the staff of the Supervisory Authority of each side must wear uniforms, badges and signs in accordance with the regulations of their country and have specialized signs notified to each other by the two sides.
+ When conducting inspections and controls, the civil servants of the Supervisory Agency of each party must respect and not obstruct the normal fishing activities of licensed people and fishing vessels, and avoid duplicate inspections and penalties. The civil servants of each party who detect violations or have reasonable grounds to believe that the fishing vessel shows signs of suspected illegal fishing or, when necessary, can board the vessel for inspection. When boarding the fishing vessel for inspection, the civil servants shall make a record of the inspection of the Common Fishing Zone according to the prescribed form. The record of inspection must be objective, authentic, and signed by the civil servants of the Supervisory Agency and the captain of the fishing vessel being inspected.
+ The civil servants of the supervisory agency of each Party, based on their own laws, have the right to sanction fishing vessels that have not been licensed but have entered the waters of their own side of the Common Fishing Zone or that have been granted a license to enter the Common Fishing Zone but have illegal activities other than fishing. When the supervisory agency or the agency with the right to sanction one Party handles violations by fishing vessels and personnel of the other Party, it must promptly notify the enforcement agency of its side so that this agency can inform the enforcement agency of the other Party of the inspection report or the main content of the violation within 72 hours after the incident occurs; in case the fishing vessel must be temporarily detained and brought to the port for handling, it must be notified within 48 hours; when deciding to sanction, it must notify the enforcement agency of the other Party of the decision to sanction within 72 hours.
+ Violations that can be handled for people and fishing vessels granted a License when fishing in the Common Fishing Zone include: not flying the national flag; fishing vessels with identification signs but not in accordance with regulations; fishing vessels not carrying a license, not carrying a vessel registration certificate, not keeping a fishing log; people on board not carrying identification papers; fishing contrary to their profession or violating the fishing time recorded in the license; the main engine capacity of the fishing vessel not matching the registration in the license; violating the regulations on temporary suspension of fishing in the Common Fishing Zone; using explosives, toxic substances, electric shocks, fishing gear and fishing methods prohibited by the Joint Fisheries Committee; intentionally violating the prohibition on catching rare wild aquatic species...
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