Vietnam seeks Polish help to lift EC yellow card on seafood

By Huyen Le March 16, 2023 | 06:22 pm PT

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has called on Poland to use its good offices to overturn a European Commission IUU yellow card issued to Vietnam's fisheries sector.

At a meeting with Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau on Thursday, he said the lifting of the warning – for falling short of tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing – would ensure livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese workers and satisfy consumers' demands in Poland and the rest of the EU.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) meets with Poland's Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau in Hanoi, March 16, 2023. Photo by Vietnam News Agency

He also called on the Polish government to soon ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement to promote investment.

Rau expressed his country’s desire for closer cooperation with Vietnam in fields like IT, smart cities and green technologies.

Chinh thanked Poland for donating 1.4 million doses of Covid vaccines and eight tons of medical equipment worth US$4 million to Vietnam for post-pandemic recovery, and hailed the country as Vietnam’s largest commercial partner in central eastern Europe.

Rau is in Vietnam on Thursday and Friday.

Vietnam received the yellow card in 2017 after a number of its fishing vessels were caught trespassing in other countries’ waters.