FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Fishery industry optimistic of US trafficking report upgrade

Fishery industry optimistic of US trafficking report upgrade

GIVEN THAILAND'S serious efforts to tackle the problem of human trafficking during the past year, there are high hopes that the United States will upgrade the Kingdom from the bottom-of-the-pile tier-three ranking in its upcoming "Trafficking in Persons"

“With concrete and tangible measures for combating problems related to illegal employment, in particular forced and foreign labour, we [businesses] expect that the US will fairly consider upgrading Thailand’s status during the upcoming revision,” he said. He said the government had made strong efforts to solve labour problems during the first year of its administration.
It has concrete and tangible plans to solve many issues related to illegal employment and the enhancement of human-rights protection, and the country now has a national committee and a one-stop service to solve labour problems as the government sees the issue as a national-agenda item, he explained.
Moreover, Thai private enterprises in the fishery industry have cooperated with government agencies and other countries to try to solve the problems from upstream to downstream, said the coalition chief.
Thailand was downgraded to the lowest status in the TIP report last year, with the new report expected to be released by the end of this month.
Since March, the government has submitted a report to update Washington on its efforts to tackle the problem during the period from April 2014 to March 31.
In the document submitted to Washington, the US will see many updated actions and Thailand’s progress in solving labour issues, Poj said, stressing that it was not only the government that had introduced many measures and activities, as private enterprises had been cooperating in much of this work, as well.
He added that private enterprises had also separately provided information to their trading partners, in a bid to assure traders and consumers on safety issues and the high intention of Thai firms in regard to human rights, and on other issues of concern such as the environment and sustainability.
Foreign buyers and importers have expressed satisfaction with Thai fishery businesses after regularly sending teams to inspect factories and fishery farms in Thailand on a random basis, he said.
Anurat Khokasai, chief marketing officer and chief operations officer of Prantalay – a major producer and exporter of seafood – said American and European buyers had regularly made “surprise checks” at Thai factories, not informing the firms in advance and sending a third party to inspect their seafood plants from upstream to downstream.
“If any illegal or unfair treatment on labour or other issues had been found, those foreign buyers would have stopped purchasing goods from Thailand some time ago. But as of now, they have high confidence about Thai fishery firms and continue to order from Thailand,” he said.
Prantalay’s plants are inspected four or five times a year, he added.
Representing a company involved in the fishery industry, Anurat said he could say that most Thai firms involved in exporting, and medium-sized and large enterprises in particular, had not been involved with human trafficking. Most foreign labourers have been registered legally to work in the country, and are treated fairly by Thai companies, he added.
“At Prantalay, we treat both local and foreign labourers to the same standard. Foreign workers, who mostly are from Myanmar, are paid the same minimum wage as Thai workers, and [their treatment] is based on good practice,” said Anurat.
The company also employs a Myanmar public relations officer and provides a signboard or makes announcements in the Myanmar language at its plants to communicate with workers originating from that country. The company also provides medical care to foreign workers, he stressed.
 
Joint commitment
Meanwhile, members of the eight fishery associations under the Thai Fishery Producers Coalition made a joint commitment for two years from April 2014 to completely eliminate child and forced labour from their upstream supply chains to downstream manufacturers.
All coalition members have vowed to rid their facilities and pre-production process of any child and forced labour since late last year.
They have also drawn up a plan to provide better facilities for workers, such as accommodation, and continue to get rid of child and forced labour in their supply chains.
Any member that fails to fulfil the commitment would see membership terminated, which means it would be unable to export its products.
Moreover, the Agriculture Ministry also recently announced that the government would enact a specific law binding on every enterprise involved in the fishery industry to follow high-standard employment regulations to ensure fair labour treatment in the sector.
All those involved – fishermen, ports, cooling factories, processing plants and shippers – would have to comply with the law.
In parallel, Thai enterprises in the fishery industry have proceeded with an ethical standard expected of responsible business operators by fully abiding with all present and future labour laws, treating all workers fairly and without discrimination in terms of sex, race or nationality, and providing a safe working environment and adequate support facilities.
Members of the coalition have also denounced abusive and/or exploitative use of workers.
Thai enterprises have also continued to eliminate child labour and the trafficking of alien workers, with fishery-related operators having joined with the Fisheries Department to raise the standard of pre-processing plants handling marine products. 
To raise the bar on labour protection, private enterprises have also collaborated with the International Labour Organisation, the Fisheries Department and the Labour Protection and Welfare Department to map plant locations, record each manufacturer’s profile and conduct a baseline survey of members’ facilities and those of their pre-processors.
The coalition has also worked with the Myanmar and Cambodian governments to maintain the living conditions of their nationals working in Thailand.
 
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