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Vietnam is pushing its fishing industry to clean up its act after a threat of punitive trade measures by the EU, which accuses it of tolerating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing on a large scale.
The EU in October gave Vietnam a yellow card under the system by which it ranks nations’ fishing practices and market access, giving the Southeast Asian country six months to reform the industry or face the threat of a ban on fish exports.
Vietnam’s seafood industry is one of the world’s largest, alongside the US, China and Norway, and expects to export $8.3bn of its products worldwide in 2017, according to Vasep, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.
The EU has also sanctioned or warned other Asian countries over their fishing practices. Thailand and Taiwan currently have yellow cards, while Cambodia has a red card temporarily blocking it from exporting fresh-caught fish to the EU. Brussels will next review Vietnam’s status in April 2018.
We are trying to make every effort to make sure the red card won’t happen, Nguyen Hoai Nam, Vasep’s deputy general secretary, told the Financial Times. We are undertaking many activities to improve and follow the [EU’s] recommendations.
In one sign of the seriousness with which communist-ruled country is taking the issue, in November its parliament passed a new fisheries law that provides for increased inspection of fisheries and steep fines of up to 1bn dong ($44,000) for the biggest violations.
EU officials want Vietnam to rein in the activities of its large fleet of longline fishing boats, which they say often travel without tracking devices and fish as far afield as the waters off south Asia and New Caledonia.
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Vietnam’s industry also buys large amounts of seafood from third countries, and Brussels wants exporters to improve their documentation showing the origin of their fish.
There’s certainly a sign of political commitment from the government, an EU source said. They have realised the problem exists and, they are engaging in a dialogue with the EU; the next thing will be the action that needs to be taken, and there is still a long way to go.
The threat of an EU ban on Vietnamese fish imports is already being felt in the industry, where producers say they are meeting with and training fishermen to combat unreported and unregulated fishing.
Nguyen Thi Thu Sac, the general director and family shareholder of Hai Nam, a seafood exporter that sends more than 40 per cent of its output to the EU, said that government ministers had made top provincial officials responsible for illegal fishing in their areas.
If any vessel is fishing illegally, the top official is responsible for stopping it, said Ms Nguyen. After two months, I think the cases of illegal fishing have been reduced.
Mr Nguyen, the Vasep deputy head, said that under a new government directive, fishing boats would be required to connect to a satellite signal every two hours.
The EU accounts for just under a fifth of Vietnam’s seafood exports, and the country sold $1.4bn of such products to European countries in the year to the end of November, up 23 per cent on the previous year, according to Vasep.
While the industry is expanding rapidly, it has struggled with a number of problems over the years. The US has for several years had in place anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese exports of catfish.
THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD 2017. FT and Financial Times’ are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.