Vietnam's seafood export to EU declined because of "yellow card"

Directorate of Fisheries said that the situation of Vietnamese fishing vessels violating foreign waters has not shown any sign of abating, and continues to be complicated. In 2019, there were 138 cases / 220 Vietnamese fishing vessels arrested and handled by foreign countries. In which, the functional forces have identified 93 cases / 144 fishing vessels seized and handled due to violations of the waters of countries: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia. The localities with infringing ships are Kien Giang, Ben Tre, Ca Mau, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Binh Dinh, Binh Thuan and Bac Lieu.

According to the General Department of Fisheries, one of the prerequisites for Vietnam to remove the "yellow card" is that fishing vessels must stop illegal fishing in foreign waters. In addition, Vietnam must focus on overcoming the shortcomings and limitations that the European Commission Inspection Commission (EC) warned after the inspection in November 2019 in Vietnam. Therefore, if there is still a situation of fishing vessels violating, EC will not remove the "yellow card", or even be able to fine "red card" with Vietnam if the above situation does not improve.

Up to now, due to the "yellow card", Vietnamese seafood shipments will be kept 100% inspected for about 3-4 weeks per container. In addition to the cost of checking the origin of the catch at around £ 500 per container, businesses also have to pay a lot of fees as well as discrediting to customers due to slow delivery of the product.

After 2 years of "yellow card", Vietnam's seafood export to EU market has decreased significantly. From the 2nd position in the import markets of many Vietnamese seafood, after the "yellow card", the EU market has dropped to 5th.

At the weekend conference on overcoming IUU fishing, MARD Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong asked localities to strictly follow the Prime Minister and National Steering Committee on IUU.

"This is the best chance to remove the" yellow card "so we should try our best not to violate the recurrence," Mr. Cuong said and suggested the local authorities should pay attention to handling. The localities will have to review and evaluate to reduce the level of fishing, fishing vessels ...

NAM KHANH