Vietnam hopes for removal of EU yellow card on seafood in May

The country made remarkable effort on combating the unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

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Vietnam's seafood is likely to get its "yellow card" - the warning European Union (EU) give to countries involved in illegal fishing, withdrawn in May, according to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong. 

Cuong made the annoucement during a recent discussion with EU delegation, on Vietnam's effort in completing legal framework and curbing IUU fishing.

Good progress has been seen in Vietnam dealing with IUU fishing problems, cited the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The goverment has intensively taken action with the illegal fishermen and fishing boats overseas.

Until now, merely some unsolved illegal cases remain in overlapping waters between Vietnam and Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia. Vietnam also reinforces the seafood tracking program in line with international laws.

For its part, the EU offers Vietnam to monitor strictly the exploitation and enhance patrols to tackle the illegal exploitation overseas .

In October 2017, Vietnam was warned with a six-month “yellow card” by a European Commission (EC) decision, because the country’s fishermen continue to conduct IUU fishing, which the EC considers a key obstruction for the ratification of the EVFTA by the EU.

The EU, in the upcoming May, would assess the progress of Vietnam rectifying the situation. Hence, Vietnam hopes to get its “yellow card” withdrawn by the time.

In the draft EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), expected to be inked this summer and adopted by EU member states later this year, there is a chapter on sustainable development which requires Vietnam and EU member states to commit to fighting IUU fishing.