Thailand hoping to escape crippling exports ban
Print Edition
THAILAND is waiting to hear if it has dodged a potentially crippling European Union ban on seafood exports, after auditors wrapped up an investigation into illegal fishing yesterday.
Last year, the EU hit Thailand with a “yellow card,” warning it faced an outright ban unless the military government took action on illegal fishing and slave labor in the multi-billion dollar seafood industry.
Thai officials have said the ban could cost them up to US$1 billion a year in lost exports.
An EU team has spent the past week assessing Thailand’s recent reforms but declined to comment on their findings, citing the sensitivity of the issue.
“Human trafficking is an issue they are really concerned about,” Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters after his final meeting with the EU team yesterday. “They only told us to do our best,” he added.
Thailand is the world’s third largest exporter of seafood, a status environmental groups say is achieved through rampant overfishing and heavy reliance on forced labor by migrant workers.
A Thai government task force set up after the “yellow card” warning said the country had introduced new fisheries laws beefing up law enforcement, expanding monitoring systems, and assisting fishermen — including trafficking victims.
But the efficacy of the legislation has been threatened by resistance from small-scale fishermen, who say part of the decree favors large trawlers at the expense of local livelihoods.
“This law is extremely unequal,” said Sama-ae Jehmudor, 62, a fishermen’s association president. “We only sell enough fish to feed our families,” he said.
Thailand’s fish stocks have plummeted in the past 50 years, according to the UK-based Environmental Justice Foundation, and its waters are among the most overfished in the world.
Overfishing has pushed Thai fishing fleets further offshore, often to illegal areas, and encouraged the use of forced labor to boost profits, said Steven Trent, the foundation’s executive director.
He said the country will likely avoid an all-out EU ban, but should stay on the watch list. “The yellow card needs to stay there for the moment,” he said.
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