Japan applies a mechanism equivalent to EU IUU regulations

In Official Letter 1562/QLCL-CL1 dated November 16, 2022 of the Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Management Department (Nafiqad) - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development sent to seafood processing establishments for export and quality centers for agro-forestry-fisheries in the region, this unit said, from December 1, 2022, four types of Vietnamese seafood when exported to the Japanese market must have catch certificates.

Seafood exports face new challenges

Specifically, shipments of seafood and aquatic products made from raw materials of squid and cuttlefish (Squid anh Cuttle fish), saury (Pacific saury, Cololabis spp.), mackerel (Mackerel, Scomber spp) and herring (Sardine, Sardinops spp) caught/imported after December 1 will have to be accompanied by a catch certificate (Catch Certificate) or a confirmation of commitment (Processing Statement) when exporting to Japan. Copy.

Nafiqad requested seafood processing facilities to exploit and export to the Japanese market when there is a need to certify for a shipment of aquatic products processed from imported raw materials caught after December 1, 2022, belonging to 04 species. above to export to Japan, complete the dossier as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 12 of Circular 21/2018/TT-BNNPTNT and send it to the Regional Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Center under the Department in the locality for implementation. now confirmed.

Prepare complete dossiers and documents at the request of the competent authority to send together with the consignment processed from raw materials exploited before the effective time of this requirement.

Create regular and close relationships with Japanese importers to update and fully implement relevant regulations and procedures in IUU implementation of Japanese competent authorities in processing and exporting products. products from 04 aquatic species mentioned above into this market.

According to statistics of the General Department of Customs , in October 2022, Japan surpassed the United States to become Vietnam's largest seafood export market , reaching 160.6 million USD, up 34.1% compared to October/October. 2021. In the first 10 months of 2022, Vietnam's seafood export turnover to Japan reached 1.43 billion USD, up 32.9% over the same period in 2021. Japan has surpassed China to become an export market. Vietnam's second largest seafood in the past 10 months (US $ 1.9 billion, China $ 1.3 billion). Japan imports a lot of shrimp, octopus, squid, tuna,... from Vietnam.

Nafiqad said that Japan is currently recognizing and applying an equivalent mechanism on the European Commission's (EC) illegal, undeclared and unregulated (IUU) regulations.

Therefore, enterprises need to study the regulations of Vietnam and Japan to issue and organize the implementation of internal regulations of enterprises to control IUU in the entire chain process (exploitation, procurement, transportation, etc.) transporting, receiving, processing, preserving, exporting) and ensuring traceability information.

Officers implementing IUU control of enterprises must have knowledge, understanding and mastery of the provisions of the law, of the enterprise, practical skills with the assigned tasks.

Due to the requirement of traceability of seafood that meets IUU requirements throughout the entire chain, businesses consider assigning a quality assurance department to link with other parts of the business (purchasing, storing finished products). products, raw materials, import and export departments, etc.), avoiding information and data breakage, making it difficult to fulfill the traceability requirements on records and in actual production.

At the same time, develop procedures and organize the monitoring of deductions/reductions and compare monitoring data with actual production for raw materials put into production, remaining raw materials, and finished products that have been exported and not yet exported. import, ... in order to be transparent about traceability throughout the entire chain of implementing IUU regulations, to ensure that there is no confusion between batches of raw materials put into production, between batches of raw materials that meet IUU regulations and those that have not yet met IUU regulations. fully comply with IUU regulations.

Nafiqad also suggested regional agro-forestry-fishery quality centers to disseminate and guide businesses on new Japanese regulations and guide businesses in developing and implementing IUU regulations.

At the same time, carry out the verification of traceability documents, confirm the commitment of imported fishery materials for processing and export according to the requirements of the Japanese market in accordance with regulations.

The locality is not drastic, when will the IUU yellow card be removed?

Before Japan, the EC applied a "yellow card" to Vietnamese seafood. After 5 years of being "yellow card", Vietnamese seafood has not been removed. Recently, the EC's inspection team did the 3rd fact check on the anti-IUU situation in Khanh Hoa and worked at the Directorate of Fisheries.

As a result of the working trip, the EC side assessed that the central agency had made great efforts in tracking and detecting fishing vessels that crossed the allowed boundary at sea, fishing vessels lost connection for more than 10 days at sea and promptly Timely notify localities to handle fishing vessels violating cruise monitoring.

However, the results of handling by localities are mainly at the level of making reminders not to repeat violations and very few cases of administrative sanctions. In addition, there are many localities that have not coordinated to deal with the notification or have reported but have not handled the same case according to regulations.

According to statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first 10 months of 2022, 412 trains lost connection to VMS, 108 trains in 8 provinces and cities have not been handled until the end; 46 trains / 9 provinces and cities did not respond to processing results.

In order to soon remove the "yellow card" for seafood, it is necessary to have the resolute participation of the coastal localities themselves. On November 18, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien signed a document to the People's Committees of coastal provinces and cities requesting coordination in handling cases of fishing vessels losing connection to cruise monitoring. day at sea. This requirement is made in order to strengthen the responsibility of coastal local authorities in managing fishing vessels and combating IUU fishing .

Accordingly, when receiving a notice that a fishing vessel has lost connection for 10 days at sea, it must confirm it by email and reply in writing to the Directorate of Fisheries. Localities also need to fully report the results of handling to the same case for fishing vessels that lose connection for more than 10 days at sea in 2021 and 2022 before November 30. This is a drastic move by the central management agency, after the working visit of the EC inspection team in Vietnam to check on IUU in October.

In the context that the EC's seafood "yellow card" has not been removed, the Japanese market has increased stricter regulations when exporting seafood to this market, which has posed significant challenges for this industry in the near future. upcoming period.