The Vietnamese government has issued an urgent telegram mandating nationwide mobilization ahead of a March inspection by the European Commission.
The upcoming visit, which will evaluate Vietnam's efforts to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, is being treated as a pivotal turning point for the industry. The results of this inspection, which is the fifth of its kind, will determine whether the E.U. finally lifts its “yellow card” trade restriction on Vietnam or escalates it to a “red card.”
The E.U. first issued a yellow card to Vietnam in October 2017, warning the country it could ban its seafood exports entirely under a red card unless it took more action to tackle IUU fishing.
The latest telegram, signed by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, commended initial progress made by ministries, local authorities, and the fishing community in combating IUU fishing. However, it highlighted persistent gaps, including the ineffective management of ineligible vessels and unresolved cases of foreign water incursions. The directive noted that a lack of decisiveness and subjective oversight in certain sectors and localities continue to hinder efforts to fully address these violations.
Stressing that this upcoming delegation carries "extraordinary importance" for the national economy, the government has ordered a high-intensity enforcement phase running through 9 March. During this period, officials will aim to bridge existing gaps in vessel management and the prosecution of administrative violations before inspectors arrive.
Under the new directive, Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology is directed to coordinate with relevant agencies to finalize and synchronize all maritime databases and monitoring software. These systems must provide accurate, live, and verifiable data to eliminate existing inconsistencies and ensure seamless operation before 6 March. Additionally, the ministry will appoint technical experts to present these digital capabilities to the European Commission’s inspection delegation.
The Ministry of National Defense must also ensure that no ineligible vessels – particularly those with disconnected vessel monitoring systems (VMS) – are permitted to depart from any port.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Security is directed to urgently consolidate case files, initiate prosecutions, and bring to trial all criminal cases involving violations related to tackling IUU fishing. The ministry has also been tasked with tracking vessel owners and crew members via the national population database and implementing a management system for port entries and departures to provide comprehensive monitoring of all personnel and vessels engaged in fisheries-related activities.
Chairpersons of coastal provinces and cities are also being tapped to ensure that all IUU reporting data is complete, accurate, and strictly consistent with figures previously submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment in preparation for working with the E.U. delegation.
These officials have been warned that they will be held personally accountable to the prime minister if local failures prevent the lifting of the yellow card or lead to a red card warning, the telegram said.
Any red card, which results in a total trade ban on seafood imports from countries deemed to not be cooperative in fighting illegal fishing, would cause severe losses to Vietnam’s seafood exports, according to a 2021 joint report from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and the World Bank.
Their report, “A Trade-Based Analysis of the Economic Impact of Non-Compliance with Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing: The Case of Vietnam,” estimated Vietnam will lose USD 387 million (EUR 327.6 million) per year from the loss of export revenue from wild-caught seafood including tuna, squid, and octopus, as well as USD 93 million (EUR 78.9 million) annually from a loss of income from farmed seafood exports, which would be indirectly affected by such a ban.
The inspection also comes as Vietnam is facing trade restrictions from the U.S., which found that 12 fisheries from the Southeast Asian country do not comply with U.S. marine mammal protection requirements, determining that products from those fisheries would be banned from export to the U.S. by 1 January.
