An inspection team from the European Commission (EC) is scheduled to visit Vietnam from October 10-18 to work with the country on its efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The team will consist of representatives from the EC’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) and its Delegation in Vietnam.

The working visit is aimed at evaluating the implementation of the EC’s recommendations on IUU fishing, focusing on the those given to Vietnam following the delegation’s third inspection in Vietnam last October. Based on this evaluation, the EC will decide to remove or maintain the “yellow card” warning on Vietnamese fisheries products.

The team is scheduled to conduct on-site examinations and technical work from October 10-17.

According to MARD, since last November, Vietnam has focused on implementing four groups of recommendations from the EC to combat IUU fishing and remove the “yellow card”, including completing the legal framework, monitoring the operations of fishing vessels, certifying the volume and traceability of exploited fisheries products, and enforcing related laws.