Fishermen to petition against ‘harsh’ law
Play
REPRESENTATIVES of fishermen nationwide will today petition the government to review the Fisheries Royal Ordinance bill introduced last month, which they say is “too strict”.
Trang fishermen club director Sawaeng Khun-arj said the government passed the law to please the European Union even though it put local fishermen at a disadvantage.
Sawaeng said the government cancelled the Fisheries Act 2015 that was the product of a 16-year nationwide struggle on behalf of fishermen, although it had been in force for only a fortnight, and failed to give fishermen a chance to take part in the drafting of the royal ordinance law.
He said the new law had many new rules and regulations that hampered fishermen who used small boats. If the government continued to ignore his group’s call for a review of the one-month-old ordinance, Sawaeng said, fishermen would petition the United Nations.
He said the government did not fully integrate the Fisheries Act into the Fisheries Royal Ordinance, which had 38 articles affecting the livelihoods of fishermen including banning them from fishing more than three nautical miles off shore.
Sawaeng said the law also stipulated that all fishing boats be registered and licensed, at a cost of Bt10,000 per boat. Fishermen also had to pay a fee for using fishing equipment and report how much they caught each day.
He said representatives of fishermen from 22 provinces would team up with those from the Local Fishermen Confederation to file the petition with the government.
Meanwhile, the Thai Frozen Foods Association (TFFA) has announced the elimination of external pre-processing of shrimp operations. The association moved yesterday to eradicate pre-processing by third parties from the shrimp supply chain of its members from the end of this year.
The groundbreaking move follows a vote by members to reduce the risk of illegal labour practices in the Thai shrimp supply chain.
From January 1, all members of the TFFA will do shrimp pre-processing work in-house in order to exercise full control over the work conditions of employees in the extended supply chain.
To help the transition, the TFFA will work with local non-government groups to offer opportunities to workers previously employed by external pre-processors.
Firms that are TFFA members have agreed to adhere to strict rules regarding employment conditions aimed at eradicating human trafficking and illegal labour practices.
“As an association and representative of the Thai seafood industry, we are committed to fight against human rights violations and illegal labour in the supply chain”, Poj Aramwattananon, TFFA president, said.
“It is clear that complete transparency and full oversight is required.. For this reason, our members voted to bring all pre-processing operations of the shrimp supply chain in-house, so that there could be no question of any impropriety at any stage of our processing.”
Poj said enterprises would continue to work with all stakeholders to address critical industry issues. It was a major initiative that would help boost oversight of the shrimp supply chain.
Association members who continue to source from external pre-processors from January 1, would face severe consequences – loss of membership and “their ability to export Thai shrimp product overseas”, he said.
