The European Commission continues cooperating with Vietnamese authorities on the matter of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU), a European Union official told SeafoodSource on 25 February.
However, an inspection by E.C. authorities scheduled for January 2019 was rescheduled for later in 2019 – most likely June – because the E.C. needs more time to see how Vietnam’s 2018 Fisheries Law, which came into effect 1 January this year, is being implemented, according to an official from Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) quoted by Thanh Nien Online.
Interviewed by SeafoodSource, the E.U. official declined to reveal the content of the IUU dialogue, including dates of the missions to third countries, citing confidential terms.
“At this stage we cannot pre-empt any decision on the yellow card status of Vietnam,” the official said.
Vietnam’s new fisheries law incorporated recommendations made by the E.C., and cooperation between the E.C. and Vietnam is vital if the country hopes to see its “yellow card” status removed. The yellow card was imposed on Vietnam in October 2017, and since then, the E.U. has been conducting a review of Vietnam’s fisheries- and seafood-related policies to determine which route it will take out of three options available to it: maintaining the country’s yellow card status; issuing a red card banning all seafood imports from Vietnam; or rescinding the yellow card and resuming normal trading relations.
The commission's carding system is the E.U.'s main tool in the fight against illegal fishing. It encourages countries to work with the commission to improve their fisheries governance and retain access to E.U. markets.
