At a meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on October 8, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang asked it to identify concrete tasks for each ministry, agency, and locality to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, with a target of Vietnam having the “yellow card” imposed by the European Commission (EC) removed after its fifth round of inspections next year.

During its fourth round of inspections on Vietnam’s efforts to fight IUU fishing, between October 10 and 18, an EC delegation noted the strong efforts of the government, including legal framework and policies, in implementing the EC’s recommendations relating to IUU fishing. However, the actions of fishermen in some localities fell short of the EC requirements for ending IUU fishing. A fifth round of inspections is scheduled for May next year.

Deputy Prime Minister Quang asked relevant ministries, agencies, and localities to implement the Official Dispatch from the Prime Minister on November 4 regarding solutions to fight IUU fishing. He agreed with a proposal from MARD for more online meetings between relevant ministries, agencies, and local authorities, focusing on stronger measures against IUU fishing, including severe punishment for all those involved, especially in cases violating foreign waters.

He assigned MARD to identify concrete tasks for each relevant ministry, agency, and locality in the implementation of the Prime Minister’s November 4 Dispatch as well as of the EC’s recommendations against IUU fishing, for Vietnam to have the “yellow card” removed after the EC’s next round of inspections.