Vietnam has made suitable efforts to clamp down on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing while striving to negotiate to have the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” removed, a counsel at the Advisory Centre on WTO Law told the Vietnam News Agency.
According to Christian Vidal-León, who previously worked as a dispute settlement lawyer in both the Legal Affairs and the Appellate Body Secretariat of the WTO, over the past six years, the Vietnamese Government has issued a number of related documents, and aligned the European Union’s recommendations with the Law on Fisheries, including the Government’s decision to issue an action plan on fighting IUU fishing in 2023.
Fishing in the Southeast Asian region is always challenging, he said, highlighting the fight is significant to the sustainable development of the fisheries sector, including Vietnam's.
Vidal-León said the EU has also pledged to support Thailand in the implementation of the new IUU fishing law following the EC's delisting of Thailand from the group of “warned countries” in 2019 as the Southeast Asian country had effectively adjusted and supplemented laws in accordance with the commission’s standards.
