Resolutely removing the IUU “yellow card”: Many substantive changes are highly appreciated by the EU

With many substantial changes in the work of controlling and tracing the origin of fishing vessels in localities across the country, Vietnam has been recognized and highly appreciated by the European Union (EU).

Fishing boat anchorage area in An Giang province. (Photo: Van Sy/VNA)

Implementing the peak month of combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and sustainable development of Vietnam's fisheries industry, last week, localities simultaneously launched campaigns to strictly control fishing fleets, resolutely handle violations, and promote the digitization of fisheries data.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment , to date, the fishing vessel management and monitoring system has been strengthened; more than 80,000 fishing vessels have registered for VNFishbase (national fisheries database system), synchronized with VNeID (electronic identification application), VMS (voyage monitoring device), eCDT (electronic seafood traceability system), serving management and monitoring.

With many substantial changes in controlling and tracing the origin of fishing vessels, Vietnam has been recognized and highly appreciated by the European Union (EU).

A representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said that in order to implement the peak month of combating IUU fishing, last week, the ministry coordinated with the People's Committee of Da Nang City to organize the inauguration and put into use the project to upgrade and expand Tho Quang Fishing Port (phase 2). This is a national key project in the field of fisheries, with a total investment of 250 billion VND.

According to the planning approved by the Prime Minister, Tho Quang Fishing Port is a dynamic fishing port belonging to the Da Nang Major Fisheries Center, playing a particularly important role not only for the Central region but also for the whole country. Therefore, the completion of the upgrade of Tho Quang Fishing Port has practical significance in the context of Vietnam's drastic and synchronous implementation of solutions to combat IUU fishing.

In particular, the system of managing and monitoring fishing vessels, tracing the origin of aquatic products and controlling the loading and unloading of goods at ports will be an important key in the IUU control chain, contributing to improving transparency, meeting the recommendations of the European Commission (EC), and moving towards removing the IUU "yellow card" in 2025.

In the coming time, the ministry will continue to closely coordinate with coastal localities to invest in completing a synchronous fisheries infrastructure system, including fishing ports, storm shelters, fisheries logistics services, environmental treatment systems and IUU monitoring, contributing to building a modern, blue marine economy.

Recently, Minister Tran Duc Thang also had a meeting with the EU Delegation to Vietnam, led by Ambassador Julien Guerrier. This meeting demonstrated Vietnam's goodwill in working with the EU to remove obstacles in the circulation of agricultural, forestry and fishery products, combat IUU fishing, comply with EU anti-deforestation regulations; and at the same time, strengthen Vietnam-EU cooperation in the fields of agriculture and environment.

Authorities give national flags and life jackets to fishermen at sea. (Photo: VNA)

Minister Tran Duc Thang said that recently, the Prime Minister has regularly paid attention to and directed ministries, branches and 21 coastal localities to synchronously implement many measures to combat IUU fishing in accordance with regulations. Up to now, the fisheries law system has been completed and synchronized, with consultation with the EC and internalization of international regulations, especially recommendations on IUU.

Based on the achieved results, Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang proposed that the EU soon organize the 5th EC Inspection Delegation to Vietnam to directly record the remarkable changes in the fight against IUU, moving towards removing the "yellow card" as soon as possible.

On the EU side, Ambassador Julien Guerrier also highly appreciated Vietnam’s progress in implementing the EC’s recommendations, from the central to local levels. “The EU has noted many substantial changes in the control and traceability of fishing vessels; increasing forest area and restoring natural forests,” Ambassador Julien Guerrier emphasized.

High concentration on combating IUU fishing

It is expected that the EC Delegation will visit Vietnam at the end of November 2025. At the 21st meeting of the National Steering Committee on Combating IUU Fishing, the Prime Minister requested ministries, branches and localities to focus on leading and directing the implementation of the peak month of combating IUU fishing.

Accordingly, localities are responsible for directing the implementation of measures to immediately end the situation of "fishing at all costs," build "responsible fishing," and traceability for the sustainable development of the fisheries industry, for the honor of the country, the nation, and the interests of the people.

Heads of relevant ministries, branches and coastal localities are directly and fully responsible to the Government and the Prime Minister if fishing vessels violate the law again or if progress in removing the IUU "yellow card" is delayed.

Following the above directive, over the past week, coastal localities across the country have simultaneously launched operations, strictly controlling fishing fleets, resolutely handling violations and accelerating the digitization of fisheries data. Notably, some localities have implemented management models in the direction of "accompanying" to promote high efficiency.

Ho Chi Minh City’s maritime law enforcement forces disseminate information about IUU fishing to fishermen in Vung Tau City before their boats set sail for fishing. (Photo: Hoang Nhi/VNA)

For example, in Ho Chi Minh City, a representative of the city People's Committee said that the city still has 286 fishing boats that are not qualified to operate. All of these boats have been zoned and gathered in the locality according to each ward and commune, divided into clusters for easy monitoring.

In recent times, Ho Chi Minh City has also actively encouraged people to participate in monitoring fishing vessels under surveillance, with many soft solutions. One of the outstanding initiatives is the model of "morning coffee with fishermen" or "breakfast with fishermen" organized by localities for direct dialogue between the government and vessel owners. Through these programs, the government and law enforcement forces will disseminate regulations, update the status of vessels and grasp the needs of fishermen.

With good practices and high consensus from ship owners, recently, Ho Chi Minh City has no longer recorded ships losing connection or leaving the anchorage without permission. For the case of violation that docked in Lam Dong, the city has sent a document to coordinate with the locality (Lam Dong) to handle according to regulations...

Thus, the above management method of Ho Chi Minh City is a combination of deterrence, mobilization and technical supervision, preventing unqualified fishing vessels from going to sea, while raising the awareness of compliance of fishermen. This is also an effective management model, combining the government, technology and the community, contributing positively to the efforts to combat IUU fishing in the area in recent times.

Implementing the Prime Minister's direction, Vinh Long province also resolutely directed sectors and localities to combat IUU fishing.

Accordingly, Vinh Long province has strictly controlled all fishing vessels going out to sea and entering ports according to regulations; reviewed the fleet, and completed the licensing of fishing vessels that meet the requirements. According to statistics, the number of fishing vessels that have been inspected according to regulations is 2,678, reaching 100% of the total number of fishing vessels in operation.

Along with the inspection and registration of fishing vessels, Vinh Long province has also monitored the entire offshore fleet operating at sea through the installation of a monitoring system. To date, 2,235/2,254 vessels have installed VMS equipment, the remaining vessels are inactive and are being closely monitored./.

On November 16, 2025, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son signed Decision No. 2496/QD-TTg approving the Plan for implementing the Protocol amending and supplementing the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization on the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement in 2022. This is an important basis for fully implementing Vietnam's obligations under the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement 2022 (FSA 2022) and promoting sustainable fisheries management. The plan aims to ensure Vietnam's full compliance with its commitments under the FSA 2022 - an agreement adopted by the WTO at the 12th Ministerial Conference, prohibiting forms of subsidies that lead to overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/quyet-liet-go-the-vang-iuu-nhieu-chuyen-bien-thuc-chat-duoc-eu-danh-gia-cao-5065319.html