Hanoi (VNA) -After Vietnam received a “yellow card” from the European Commission because ofits failure to meet standards against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU)fishing, stakeholders are preparing a national action plan to prevent, minimiseand eliminate IUU fishing by 2025.

Acting Director General ofDirectorate of Fisheries Nguyen Ngoc Oai said at a recent press conference thatthe draft plan was submitted to the Prime Minister on October 10. It will beimplemented as soon as it is approved.

Oai said the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development (MARD) had established an inter-sectoralworking group to direct and co-ordinate actions to satisfy the EC’s strictregulations against IUU fishing.

Oai said the “yellow card”,which is technically considered a warning applied to seafood products exploitedat sea, not to aquaculture products, and offers Vietnam theopportunity to take measures to rectify the situation within six months.

“During this time, seafoodexport activities will be still in place. However, there will be some impactssuch as: increased inspection on imported products from Vietnam (up to 100percent of Vietnamese exports may be inspected), leading to prolonged storage,increased cost of inspection and storage costs for Vietnamese enterprises,”said Oai.

“We will organisedelegations to negotiate with EU representatives to help them furtherunderstand and acknowledge the efforts of Vietnam in implementing andresponding to EU recommendations,” he added.

Oai said Vietnam wouldquickly complete procedures for accession to the UN Fish Stocks Agreement andthe FAO Port State Measures Agreement. As soon as the revised FisheriesLaw is passed by the National Assembly this year, the Government will issueregulations to create a legal framework for fisheries management as required bythe EU.

On the sidelines of the14th National Assembly in Hanoi on October 26, delegate Nguyen Viet Thang fromthe southern province of Ben Tre said the EC’s yellow cardto Vietnamese seafood had already heavily affected the country’s seafoodexports as well as its reputation.

“The income of fishermen isdirectly affected. Therefore, to overcome the "yellow card" and avoidthe status of "red card", all levels of government, from central tolocal, and fishermen must drastically adhere to the expectations of importingcountries,” said Thang.

Seafood processing andexporting enterprises must strictly comply with these regulations as well.Fishermen need to be more self-aware in fishing, he added, and take responsibilityto avoid IUU fishing.-VNA