Vietnam is making a big push to rid itself of the European Union’s yellow card, a trade warning first issued in October 2017 after the European Commission decided the Southeast Asian nation had not done enough to counter illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
The E.U. is now in the process of conducting a review of Vietnam’s fisheries-related policies to determine whether to rescind the yellow card and resume normal trading relations, to maintain the country’s yellow card status, or to issue a red card banning all seafood imports from Vietnam to the E.U.
E.C. inspectors visited Vietnam in October 2022, and E.C. Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MARE) IUU Fisheries Policy Unit Head Roberto Cesari said his team will be returning within six months for a follow-up appointment. After the E.C. assessment report is released, Vietnam will have six months to adopt the recommendations in the report, according to Vietnam’s General Department of Fisheries.
In previous reviews, the E.C. has acknowledged significant advancements made by Vietnamese authorities to clamp down on IUU fishing. However, it pointed out deficiencies in Vietnam’s fishing-vessel registration system, fishing license controls, and vessel-monitoring system implementation.
The E.C. said Vietnam must implement an effective identification mechanism for imported wild-caught seafood coming into the country via container ships, alleging its current lack of effective import controls is contributing to the possibility that domestic and foreign raw materials are mixed before being processed and exported to the E.U.
Vietnam has not been able to curtail illegal fishing incursions committed by Vietnamese fishermen into the exclusive economic zones of neighboring countries. In 2022, 104 Vietnamese fishing vessels and 919 fishermen were detained for presumed illegal fishing abroad. Those violations will harm Vietnam’s efforts at having its yellow card removed, according to Vietnam’s Agriculture Ministry, and run counter to comments made in September 2021 by Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh ordering an end to Vietnam’s participation in IUU fishing.