Brussels (VNA) – The European Commission (EC) is willing to cooperate and supportVietnamese authorities in their reforms to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, said KarmenuVella, Commissioner of the European Union for Environment, MaritimeAffairs and Fisheries.

In an interview granted VietnamNews Agency correspondents in Brussels on theoccasion of Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong’songoing working visit to the EU from March 20-24 to promote the removal of"yellow card measure" in Vietnam for IUU fishing, Vella said the ECwelcomes the high level commitments expressed by Vietnamese authorities,notably the Plan adopted by the MARD to implement urgent measures to overcomethe yellow card adopted in October 2017.

“Nonetheless,the European Commission reiterates its concerns as regards the translation ofsuch commitments into tangible measures aiming at addressing the serious shortcomings that led theCommission to adopt the yellow card,” he noted.

According to Vella, the adoption of thepre-identification (yellow card) of Vietnam as non-cooperating country infighting IUU fishing in October 2017 is the formalisation of a dialogue inplace since 2012. This step is a warning, but does not imply any kind of traderelated measures.

“The objective ofthe EU IUU policy is to enter into a logic of cooperation with the competentauthorities of third countries to ensure they align their legal andadministrative frameworks with their international obligations to fight againstIUU fishing and establish adequate control mechanisms,” he said.

Vietnamese authorities are expected to provide by April 2018, 6 months afterthe adoption of the yellow card, with a progress report addressing the implementationof the action plan, he said, adding that the EC will evaluate, including bymeans of visits to the country, the content of the action plan in light of theshortcomings established in the Commission Decision of 23 October 2017.

Talking about the possibility of removing the yellow card for Vietnam in thisDecision Vella said any actionas regards Vietnam will follow a careful analysis of the actions undertaken bythe authorities to remedy the deficiencies that led to the yellow card.

“The revocation of the yellow card will only be possible if all the mentioneddeficiencies are sufficiently addressed.”

It is to be notedthat, in case the situation is not improved, the Commission may proceed withthe identification of the country as non-cooperating in fighting IUU fishing(red card) and with the proposal to the Council of the EU to list the countryas non-cooperating in fighting IUU fishing, he noted.-VNA