HCMC – An inspection team of the European Commission (EC) will visit Vietnam to examine illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the country for the fourth time in October this year, instead of May as planned.

The EC has informed the Department of Fisheries at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of their rescheduled visit, reported the Vietnam News Agency.

The EC proposed three online working sessions with Vietnamese authorities in May, June and October before coming to Vietnam for a site inspection in the upcoming time.

By the end of May, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will send a team to work directly with the EC and update them on the country’s combat against the IUU.

After the EC’s inspection in October 2022, Vietnam strived to deploy four categories that the EC had recommended to fight against IUU and remove the yellow card, including the legal framework, surveillance, inspection and control over fishing boats, management of fishing fleet; certification of fishery output and tracing origin of fishery products and law enforcement.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also sent teams to conduct site inspections in provinces such as Thanh Hoa, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Phu Yen and Binh Dinh and guide them in taking measures against IUU.

As of April 30 this year, 28,797 among 29,489 fishing boats had been installed with the vessel monitoring systems, while most of the remaining fishing boats are inactive, according to the Department of Fisheries.