In a bid to have the European Commission's (EC) yellow card warning lifted, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has called on the authorities of coastal provinces and centrally-run cities to enforce stricter administrative penalties, with a focus on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing violations.
Following the Prime Minister's directives at a conference on combating IUU fishing in late August 2024, the Ministry of Justice conducted inspections in several coastal provinces and cities, revealing challenges in enforcing administrative penalties related to IUU fishing. While some progress has been made, issues remain, including the inadequate application of supplementary penalties and corrective measures.
To address these issues, especially in the context of a nationwide effort to resolve the yellow card warning, provincial and municipal authorities have been tasked with directing relevant agencies to fully comply with the Law on Administrative Penalties, as well as the Government’s Decree on enforcing administrative penalty decisions and other related regulations.
Authorities have also been instructed to draw lessons from past experiences to ensure that both organisations and individuals uphold the highest standards of compliance.
The EC issued a “yellow card” warning against the Vietnamese seafood industry in October 2017. It is followed by a green card if the problem is resolved or a red card if it is not. A “red card” may lead to an outright ban on aquatic exports to the EU./.
