HÀ NỘI — The Directorate of Fisheries is implementing software and piloting the electronic traceability for seafood products to meet state management and market requirements.
Nguyễn Quang Hùng, deputy director of the Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said the directorate has been using paper-based records of traceability for catching fishery products on the sea.
However, that has taken time and not ensured the accuracy during filling information for the traceability, including region and volume of catching fish, he said.
Fishermen have also complained that in the bad weather, they have had difficulties in completing the documents. In addition, record keeping is also not convenient.
To solve this problem, the Directorate of Fisheries is developing electronic traceability software and will pilot it in a number of localities such as Vũng Tàu, Khánh Hòa, Bình Định and Phú Yên.
The traceability software is expected to apply to fishing activities nationwide over the next three years, the Nông thôn Ngày nay (Countryside Today) newspaper reported.
The electronic fishing dairy and the traceability software will improve the accuracy and convenience in completing information about traceability for seafood products and managing that information, Hùng said.
The directorate will also train fishermen, fishing port management systems and fisheries sub-departments in 28 provinces to use that software.
Hùng said the traceability of fishery products is now compulsory according to the needs of the market. It is also one of the mandatory requirements to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing) of the European Union.
Domestic consumers also need transparency in traceability of seafood products from the supply to stages of processing and consumption.
Việt Nam has carried out the traceability of seafood products since the Law on Fisheries 2003 was introduced with the requirement that records must be kept in diaries to serve the traceability of products.
The fishery sector has had 57 fishing ports eligible to grant certification on traceability of seafood products. They have asked fishermen to keep a diary while at sea and vessels purchasing fish to have reports from fishing vessels. Arriving at the port, the port management agencies would confirm origin of the seafood products. Then, the Fisheries Sub-Department will certify origin before exporting or selling to the market, Hùng said. — VNS