HCMC – A European Commission (EC) delegation is expected to work in Vietnam from March 9 to 19 for the fifth inspection on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The annoucement has been given by the Department of Fisheries and Surveillance under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment after receiving the letter from EC’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE).
Local authorities have been instructed to consolidate all necessary documentation and ensure that field operations are fully compliant with international standards to support the removal of the EC’s yellow card warning. The instruction emphasizes the need for consistent and logical data across all platforms, particularly the national fisheries database, VNFishbase.
Besides, the local departments of Agriculture and Environment are required to maintain 24/7 duty shifts during the inspection period, with specialized personnel ready to provide on-site justifications. During the mission’s visit, stringent control measures will be enforced at all ports. Coastal departments must ensure that 100% of vessels required to have Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) maintain continuous connectivity.
Any vessel failing to meet operational requirements, lacking necessary system repairs, or having disconnected VMS will be strictly prohibited from departing. Authorities are also tasked with monitoring the entire volume of seafood landed at ports and strictly implementing catch certification and traceability procedures.
