Continue to strengthen inspection and resolutely handle IUU violations
Localities and authorities continue to actively inspect and promptly handle violations, according to the Deputy Prime Minister's request at the preliminary conference of the National Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing.
The conference in Hanoi took place on the afternoon of June 17, chaired by Mr. Tran Luu Quang - Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Prime Minister, Head of the National Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing; connecting online with ministries, branches and People's Committees of 28 coastal provinces and cities.
At Nghe An bridge, comrade Nguyen Van De - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Provincial IUU Steering Committee chaired the conference. Also attending were representatives of departments, branches, Border Guard Stations and People's Committees of coastal districts, towns and communes.
Completed improve the legal framework and sanctions
At the Conference, on behalf of the National Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing, the leader of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that since the European Commission (EC) delegation visited Vietnam for inspection in October 2023, the legal framework on management and sanctions for handling IUU fishing violations has been improved and more complete.
Accordingly, along with advising the Secretariat to issue Directive No. 32/CT-TW and the Government to issue Resolution No. 52/2024/NQ on the action program to implement Directive 32/CT-TW, the Government issued 2 Decrees amending and guiding the Law on Fisheries according to the EC's recommendations.
Recently, on June 12, 2024, the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court issued Resolution No. 04/2024/NQ-HDTP guiding the application of a number of provisions of the Penal Code on criminal prosecution for acts related to illegal exploitation, trading and transportation of aquatic products. Based on the Government's Projects on restructuring the fisheries sector and fishing fleet, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued a Circular amending and supplementing regulations on fishing vessel registration; recognition of fishing vessel registration facilities; ensuring technical safety of fishing vessels and fisheries control vessels; registration of fishing vessels and fisheries service vessels; deregistration of fishing vessels and marking of fishing vessels.
Regarding the traceability of exploited aquatic products, since the 4th inspection in October 2023, it has been implemented more strictly, thanks to which no shipments exported to the European market violating IUU fishing have been detected. At the same time, a pilot system for electronic traceability of exploited aquatic products (eCDT) has been implemented at fishing ports. The organization and implementation of regulations on controlling exploited aquatic products imported from foreign vessels according to regulations has basically met the requirements.
There are currently 86,820 vessels nationwide, of which fishing vessels of 15m or more have been installed with VMS journey monitoring equipment, reaching 28,584/29,095 fishing vessels (reaching a rate of 98.25%). Some localities have implemented relatively well the work of monitoring and controlling fishing vessel activities entering and leaving ports according to regulations. Along with that, 04 cases have been prosecuted, of which 02 cases were prosecuted and tried in Kien Giang and Ca Mau; some localities have verified and handled IUU fishing behaviors, VMS disconnection better than before...
Synchronously intervene and handle the situation more decisively
In addition to the above positive results, the conference also frankly pointed out the shortcomings and limitations of not being able to prevent and stop the situation of Vietnamese fishing vessels and fishermen illegally exploiting in foreign waters, which continues to be complicated and shows signs of increasing compared to before.
Specifically, since the fourth inspection by the EC, many fishermen and fishing vessels have been arrested and prosecuted by foreign countries. In addition, the situation of ship owners intentionally using fake registration numbers, deleting registration numbers; fishing vessels being bought and sold, and transferring ownership is still present.
In particular, in 2023 and 2024, the use of fishing vessels under 15m in length to commit violations has become prominent; some fishermen deliberately send and transport VMS equipment on other fishing vessels, or participate in oil smuggling, assisting fishing vessels in violations. Up to now, the registration, issuance of fishing licenses, installation of VMS equipment and the definitive handling of "3 no" fishing vessels have not been completed.
In addition, the situation of vessels crossing the permitted maritime boundary or disconnecting from VMS for 6-10 hours and over 10 hours; operating and fishing in the wrong area occurs frequently. The work of tracing the origin is still limited, not ensuring the transparency and legality of exploited aquatic products.
On the other hand, law enforcement and handling of IUU violations are still lacking in determination, consistency and uniformity among localities: investigation and punishment of illegal fishing violations in foreign waters are still very limited and not enough to deter. According to data from the database of administrative sanctions in the fisheries sector, the rate of punishment for violations of disconnecting VMS while operating at sea is still low compared to the total number of violations.
Concluding the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang - Head of the National Steering Committee against IUU fishing requested that from now until September 2024, ministries, branches and localities must seriously implement the Directive and Resolution of the Central Committee and the Government, and the Prime Minister's instructions on combating IUU fishing; ensure progress and assign responsibility to heads of Party committees, authorities at all levels and functional forces, resolutely handle responsibilities of organizations and individuals who do not fulfill their assigned duties and tasks; promptly encourage, reward and encourage typical examples in combating IUU fishing.
In addition, it is necessary to effectively implement Resolution No. 04/2024/NQ-HDTP of the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court on guiding the application of a number of provisions of the Penal Code on criminal prosecution for acts related to illegal exploitation, trading and transportation of aquatic products; strictly handle violations related to sending workers to illegally exploit in foreign waters...
The Deputy Prime Minister requested localities to take advantage of 4 groups of tasks and solutions, which are to widely propagate Resolution 04 of the Council of Judges to concentrate resources and lead and direct resolutely so that the coordination between local functional forces can be implemented more synchronously and effectively. From now on, it is necessary to build monitoring, control, prevention, and timely handling right on shore and at sea, moving towards ending the violation situation; ensuring that Resolution 04 takes effect, IUU violations can be immediately tried so that the EC can come to inspect in October to record. Localities focus resources, lead and direct this peak period to seriously implement fleet management, and thoroughly handle "03 no" fishing vessels.
