Deputy Prime Minister to directly inspect fishing ports during the anti-IUU peak

This information was shared by Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung, Director of the Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance and Deputy Head of the Steering Committee on Combating IUU Fishing of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, on May 21.

Accordingly, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang's trip is expected to take place between June 9 and June 16. Also during this time, the Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance proposed to establish an interdisciplinary inspection delegation, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security, etc., to the South Central Coast provinces.

If nothing changes, the Deputy Prime Minister will join the delegation to inspect one of the localities of Quang Ngai, Quang Nam, and Da Nang.

From June until the EC's inspection delegation comes to Vietnam for the fifth time, MARD will organize an anti-IUU peak. Currently, the Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance has prepared Report No. 385 to send to Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee on Combating IUU Fishing, asking for opinions on organizing working delegations to all 28 coastal provinces and cities.

Based on the EC's recommendation in a meeting with MARD at the end of April 2024, which is to focus on handling violating fishing vessels, the working delegation strives to increase the penalty rate to about 30%, double the current rate.

"The penalty rate is not only low but also inconsistent among localities. Some places are very serious and impose strong penalties, but some provinces impose light penalties. The EC side pays special attention to this content," said Director Nguyen Quang Hung.

In addition to Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang's inspection trip, MARD, the standing agency of the National Steering Committee on Combating IUU Fishing, is proposing and asking for the Prime Minister's opinion on directly inspecting fishing ports in around July or August.

Previously, the Deputy Prime Minister has repeatedly given drastic directions on anti-IUU fishing. He emphasized the viewpoint that promotes the responsibility of leaders for combating IUU fishing.

At the end of June 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, and leaders of ministries, departments, and branches inspected fishing port infrastructure in the Southern provinces. This is a trip before the EC's 4^th inspection, taking place in October 2023.

Regarding the upcoming 5^th inspection, Director Nguyen Quang Hung provided information that the EC side agreed with Vietnam that the inspection would be implemented in around September or October 2024. "Europe intends to wait for the results of our implementation of Decrees 37 and 38/ND-CP, just issued in April 2024, on handling administrative violations in the fisheries sector," Mr. Hung said.

Therefore, MARD has directed the Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance to make specific plans for each month, from now until September. This includes actual inspections at localities and guidance on organizing the implementation of regulations in Directive No. 32 of the Secretariat, Resolution No. 52 of the Government, and some of the EC's recent key recommendations.

Mr. Hung also listed three key solutions for implementation in the coming time. First, use every solution to prevent and minimize the situation of fishing vessels violating foreign waters. Strictly handle violating fishing vessels, with no restricted areas.

Second, more strictly manage the fleet, ensuring that 100% of fishing vessels operating at sea meet all conditions, such as installing cruise monitoring equipment (VMS), having exploitation logs, turning on connection even when lying on the shore, etc.

Third, strictly handle cases where the EC has detected the mixing of seafood raw materials or illegal legalization of documents. In particular, the forces will strengthen control and confirm the origin of seafood at the port.

"These contents need to be focused on resolving them completely and achieving results from now until September. Only then will Vietnam have a chance to remove the IUU yellow card," Mr. Hung emphasized.

MARD's Party Civil Affairs Committee is about to issue a resolution on the action program and plan to implement Directive No. 32-CT/TW dated April 10, 2024, of the Secretariat, as well as Resolution No. 52/NQ-CP dated April 22, 2024, of the Government.

According to information from the drafting team, the resolution will include a detailed plan for urgent tasks and solutions in the upcoming anti-IUU peak. Specifically, there are seven plans: Providing information, disseminating, training, and raising awareness; Implementing legal regulations related to combating IUU fishing; Managing and controlling fishing vessel activities; Confirming, certifying, and tracing the origin of exploited aquatic products; Law enforcement; International cooperation and inspection, examination, and supervision of implementation.