Vietnam’s fishery sector expects to regain a “green card” from the European Commission after working tirelessly to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (or IUU) fishing. Experts said much remains to be done, especially fishing management and attitude of local fishermen.

Vietnam got the “yellow card” in 2017 as the country failed to demonstrate sufficient progress in the battle against IUU fishing. Earlier, the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development carried out a wide range of measures to better control fishing and prevent illegal actions. To date, 62 seafood companies across the country have committed to joining national efforts by purchasing seafood from fishing vessels which have enough fishing licenses, certificates by fishing ports and fishing journey diary. In fact, the “yellow card” has made EU customers to reduce or refuse to purchase Vietnamese seafood. Since the “yellow card” was announced, all of Vietnamese seafood containers have been kept at EU ports for origin examinations. Along with paying high costs for the containers at the ports, unlucky exporters may face another challenge – their products will be returned home. In November, the EC is expected to re-evaluate Vietnam’s efforts in removing IUU card. Therefore, the agriculture sector is reviewing and re-evaluating all activities of the fishing sector to come up with effective solutions to have the yellow card removed for the industry./.