EC acknowledges Viet Nam’s efforts in combating IUU fishing

Ambassador of Viet Nam to the Kingdom of Belgium and Head of the Vietnamese Mission to the European Union (EU) Nguyen Van Thao said the EC highly values Viet Nam's strong commitment and resolute direction in addressing IUU fishing at the 30th meeting of the National Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing in Ha Noi on January 27.

The EC acknowledged Viet Nam's seriousness in deploying solutions, particularly in improving the legal framework, applying science and technology, and establishing an inspection system from the central to the local levels. Data in official reports show positive and clearly visible progress over the years, especially in 2025.

However, the EC still pointed out five outstanding issues, including insufficient information in some reports for verification; inconsistencies among data across different reports; a high number of violations, particularly cases involving VMS disconnection and vessels encroaching into foreign waters; a high rate of cases being closed without sanctions; and a recommendation that Viet Nam strengthen administrative penalties, as they are faster to implement and have a direct economic impact.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha called for urgent and thorough handling of all outstanding issues and violations in the fisheries sector, avoiding overlap and prolonged backlogs.

The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that data are the foundation of modern management, requiring systems such as VMS, VNFishbase, eCDT and related databases to be interconnected and updated to ensure accuracy, completeness, consistency and real-time validity.

He also noted that data on outstanding administrative penalty cases at local levels are already available; however, inspection and audit results in some localities show that the proportion of cases lacking sufficient conditions or legal basis, or exceeding the statute of limitations and therefore closed without sanctions, exceeds 50 per cent.

Accordingly, ministries and sectors are to continue establishing inspection and supervision teams to review local implementation of directives of the Prime Minister and the National Steering Committee, issues raised by the EC, and the responsibilities of provincial and municipal leaders and departments. Random checks will also be conducted on cases reported by localities as completed, before February 15.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested the Minister of Agriculture and Environment to urgently develop an inspection and supervision plan from now until the EC's working visit, with a focus on intensive inspections in the early months of the year. Localities are required to formulate specific plans, conduct inspections down to district and departmental levels, and ensure that tasks and solutions are implemented in a substantive and effective manner.

As of January 24, 2026, 19,035 deregistered fishing vessels were added to the public database (since 2020). Of these, a large number fall into the categories of dismantled vessels (7,589 vessels), sunken vessels (1,066 vessels), and vessels sold to other provinces (2,732 vessels). Notably, 6,502 vessels were deregistered for other reasons, such as the inability to locate vessel owners, deregistration at the owners' request, or repossession by banks, posing significant challenges to management and monitoring efforts.

Concerning violations in foreign waters, during 2024–2025 period, 88 Vietnamese fishing vessels were detained by foreign authorities, of which 17 vessels remain under verification for handling, indicating that the risk of repeated violations remains present.

The European Commission (EC) inspection team is scheduled to visit to Viet Nam in April 2026./.