There is a list of specific tasks to be carried out so that the anti-IUU work can make substantial changes.

On the afternoon of November 8, at the Government headquarters, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang chaired a meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on a number of urgent, key tasks to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang.

At the meeting, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development proposed to focus on the following tasks in the immediate future: Preventing and stopping fishing vessels from illegally exploiting seafood in foreign waters; overcoming the situation of fishing vessels operating at sea losing connection to VMS at sea.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development proposed that the Government organize a meeting with relevant provinces and cities to discuss and thoroughly implement solutions to thoroughly overcome the two above-mentioned groups of tasks, to be completed before April 30, 2024 - the time when the European Commission Delegation visits Vietnam for the 5th inspection.

The Ministry also reported to the Deputy Prime Minister on the progress of amending and supplementing a number of contents of Decree 26/2019/ND-CP, Decree 42/2019/ND-CP and Circular 23/2019/TT-BNN related to issues of: Control of aquatic raw materials imported through Vietnamese seaports by container ships; regulations on penalties for acts of exceeding permitted boundaries at sea detected through the fishing vessel monitoring system and resolving the issue of "3 no's" fishing vessels - no registration, no fishing license, no inspection.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang inspected the situation at Tac Cau fishing port, Chau Thanh district, Kien Giang province on March 26, 2023.

In his directive speech, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang requested ministries, branches and localities to focus on seriously implementing the Prime Minister's instructions in the Official Dispatch dated November 4, 2023.

Notably, the Deputy Prime Minister agreed with the proposal to hold an online meeting with relevant provinces and cities to unify the key and urgent tasks that need to be implemented in the coming time. Accordingly, in order for the conference to bring practical results, the Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to coordinate with the Government Office to carefully, thoroughly and in detail prepare the conference content so that after the conference, there must be a list of specific tasks for each ministry, sector and locality to implement so that the fight against IUU can have substantial changes, all with the goal of removing the yellow card because there is not much time left until the 5th inspection by the European Commission, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to carefully calculate, promptly complete, and submit to competent authorities to issue documents amending and supplementing Decree 26/2019/ND-CP, Decree 42/2019/ND-CP and Circular 23/2019/TT-BNN.

Along with that, the Chairman of the People's Committee of the provinces where fishing vessels/fishermen violate the law directs the review of records, investigation, and 100% punishment of violations. In addition, the functional forces of coastal provinces and cities are determined not to allow fishing vessels to leave port if they do not comply with VMS regulations.

At the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister also requested that local leaders promote a sense of responsibility and make the greatest efforts to work with the Central Government to resolve to soon remove the "yellow card" warning, for the benefit of the country and the people, ensuring the interests of the people, developing the fisheries industry sustainably, responsibly and integrating internationally.

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/co-danh-muc-nhiem-vu-cu-the-thuc-hien-de-cong-tac-chong-iuu-chuyen-bien-thuc-chat-post271633.html