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Thailand upset with EU 'yellow card' over illegal fishing

 

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BANGKOK: -- The Thai Foreign Ministry has voiced disappointment with the European Union’s decision to put Thailand on the â€yellow list†for illegal fishing.

 

EU gave Thailand six months to clean up its fishing industry or face a ban on seafood exports to EU worth about 270 billion baht.

 

Mr Seth Wannamethee, spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, said that EU’s warning showed that it was totally unaware of the determination and tangible progress made by Thailand in the attempt to solve the problem as well as Thailand’s long record of cooperation with the EU to fight against illegal fishing.

 

He also demanded the EU to consider Thailand’s efforts in addressing the problem in a fair and transparent manner without prejudice and in line with the real situation in Thailand.

 

EU said on Tuesday that it denounced Thailand’s shortcomings in its fisheries monitoring, control and sanctioning systems and concluded that Thailand is not doing enough. To avoid the ban, Thailand must “implement a tailor-made action plan to drive illegal fishing out of its waters within the next six months, said EU.

 

“Today’s action constitutes a warning, what we call a yellow card.. For the time being, there are no commercial sanctions whatsoever,†said Karmenu Vella, EU commissioner for environment, maritime affairs and fisheries.

 

Source: http://englishnews.t...illegal-fishing

 

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-- Thai PBS 2015-04-22

 

via Thai Visa

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EU warns Thailand to halt illegal fishing or face ban

 

BANGKOK: -- The EU on Tuesday warned Thailand, the third largest seafood producer, that it had six months to halt illegal fishing or face an import ban in the world's single biggest market.

 

"Today's action constitutes a warning ... the burden is now on Thailand to take corrective measures," EU Agriculture and Fishery Commissioner Karmenu Vella said.

 

After discussions on remedies dating back to 2011, the European Commission had decided to issue Thailand a 'yellow card,' with a 'red card' and punishment to follow if there was no improvement, Vella told a press briefing.

 

"I urge Thailand to join the European Union in the fight for sustainable fisheries. Failure to take strong action against illegal fishing will carry consequences," he said.

 

The Commission, the EU's executive arm, said Thailand's fisheries monitoring as well as its control and sanctioning systems were inadequate and had to be brought up to international standards.

 

Belize, Guinea, Cambodia and Sri Lanka were all hit with import bans in the past but remedial efforts by Belize meant it had now been taken off the blacklist, it said.

 

Additionally, 'yellow cards' against South Korea and the Philippines had been withdrawn after "they carried out appropriate reforms of their legal systems and are now equipped to tackle illegal fishing."

 

"Both South Korea and the Philippines have taken responsible action, amended their legal systems and switched to a proactive approach against illegal fishing," Vella said.

 

The Commission said illegal fishing accounted for at least 15 percent of the global catch and was worth up to 19 billion euros a year.

 

"As the world's biggest fish importer, the EU does not wish to be complicit and accept such products into its market," it said.

 

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-- © Copyright AFP 2015-04-21

 

Via Thai Visa

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US lets in Thai fish caught by slaves despite law

By MARTHA MENDOZA

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — In its first report on trafficking around the world, the U.S. criticized Thailand as a hub for labor abuse. Yet 14 years later, seafood caught by slaves on Thai boats is still slipping into the supply chains of major American stores and supermarkets.

 

The U.S. has not enforced a law banning the import of goods made with forced labor since 2000 because of significant loopholes, The Associated Press has found. It has also spared Thailand from sanctions slapped on other countries with weak records in human trafficking because of a complex political relationship that includes cooperation against terrorism.

 

The question of how to deal with Thailand and labor abuse will come up at a congressional hearing Wednesday, in light of an AP investigation that found hundreds of men beaten, starved, forced to work with little or no pay and even held in a cage on the remote island village of Benjina. While officials at federal agencies would not directly answer why the law and sanctions are not applied, they pointed out that the U.S. State Department last year blacklisted Thailand as among the worst offenders in its report on trafficking in people worldwide.

 

Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said the plight of about 4,000 forced laborers in Thailand's seafood industry can no longer go unheeded.

 

"There have been problems with systematic and pervasive human trafficking in Thailand's fishing fleets for more than a decade, but Washington has evidently considered it too hard to find out exactly what was happening and is not taking action to stop it," he said. "No one can claim ignorance anymore. This is a test case for Washington as much as Bangkok."

 

Hlaing Min, a 32-year-old migrant fisherman from Myanmar who worked around the clock for more than two years before he ran away, also begged the U.S. for help.

 

"Basically, we are slaves — and slavery is the only word that I can find — but our condition is worse than slavery," he said. "On behalf of all the fishermen here, I request to the Congressmen that the U.S. stop buying all fish from Thailand. ... This fish, we caught it with our blood and sweat, but we don't get a single benefit from it."

 

The AP investigation tracked fish caught by slaves to the supply chains of large food sellers such as Wal-Mart, Sysco and Kroger, as well as popular brands of canned pet food such as Fancy Feast, Meow Mix and Iams. The companies all said they strongly condemn labor abuse and are taking steps to prevent it. While some human rights advocates say boycotts are effective, many U.S. seafood companies say cutting off all imports from an entire country means they no longer have any power to bring about change.

 

During a recent visit to Jakarta, State Department Undersecretary Catherine A. Novelli was asked what the U.S. would now do.

 

"I'm sure that your public would be concerned that the fish that they ate came from a slave," said an Indonesian reporter.

 

Novelli's response was quick.

 

"In the United States we actually have a law that it is illegal to import any product that is made with forced labor or slave labor, and that includes fish," she said. "To the extent that we can trace ... where the fish are coming from, we won't allow fish to come into the United States that has been produced with forced labor or slavery."

 

However, the Tariff Act of 1930, which gives Customs and Border Protection the authority to seize shipments where forced labor is suspected and block further imports, has been used only 39 times in 85 years. In 11 cases, the orders detaining shipments were later revoked.

 

The most recent case dates back to 2000, when Customs stopped clothing from Mongolian firm Dong Fang Guo Ji based on evidence that factory managers forced employees, including children, to work 14-hour days for low wages. The order was revoked in 2001, after further review found labor abuse was no longer a problem at the company.

 

Detention orders that remain in place can have mixed results.

 

In 1999, Customs blocked hand-rolled unfiltered cigarettes from the Mangalore Ganesh Beedie Works in India, suspecting child labor. However, the AP found that Mangalore Ganesh has sent 11 large shipments of the cigarettes to Beedies LLC of Kissimee, Florida, over the past four years through the ports of New York, Miami and Savannah, Georgia. Beedies LLC said the cigarettes go straight from the U.S. ports to a bonded warehouse, and are then exported outside the country.

 

To start an investigation, Customs needs to receive a petition from anyone — a business, an agency, even a non-citizen — showing "reasonably but not conclusively" that imports were made at least in part with forced labor. But spokesman Michael Friel said that in the last four years, Customs has received "only a handful of petitions," and none has pointed to seafood from Thailand. The most recent petition was filed two years ago by a non-profit against cotton in Uzbekistan.

 

"These cases often involve numerous allegations that require extensive agency investigation and fact-finding," he said.

 

Experts also point to two gaping loopholes in the law. Goods made with forced labor must be allowed into the U.S. if consumer demand cannot be met without them. And it's hard, if not impossible, to prove fish in a particular container is tainted, because different batches generally mix together at processing plants.

 

Former Justice Department attorney Jim Rubin said Customs can't stop trafficked goods without the help of other federal agencies to investigate overseas.

 

"You can't expect a Customs guy at the border to know that a can of salmon caught on the high seas was brought in by a slave," he said.

 

The U.S. response to Thailand is also shaped by political considerations.

 

For years, the State Department has put Thailand on the watchlist in its annual trafficking report, saying the Thai government has made efforts to stop labor abuse. But last year, after several waivers, it dropped Thailand for the first time to the lowest rank, mentioning forced labor in the seafood industry. Countries with the same ranking, such as Cuba, Iran and North Korea, faced full sanctions, and foreign aid was withheld. Others, like Sudan, Syria and Zimbabwe, faced partial sanctions.

 

Thailand did not: U.S. taxpayers provided $18.5 million in foreign aid to the country last year.

 

"If Thailand was North Korea or Iran, they'd be treated differently," said Josh Kurlantzick, a fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. "They're a key ally and we have a long relationship with them."

 

In the 1960s and '70s, when the U.S. needed Thailand's help in the Vietnam War, the country "got a pass on everything," Kurlantzick said. Then Thailand's record on human rights gradually improved, along with its economy. That changed dramatically in 2006, when the military first ousted the prime minister. It declared martial law and then overtook the government again last year.

 

In response, the U.S. condemned the current regime and has suspended $4.7 million in military funding to the Southeast Asian nation.

 

However, the U.S. still includes Thailand in military exercises, and the country is considered a critical ally against terrorism. A U.S. Senate report in December detailed how top al-Qaida suspect Abu Zubaydah was water-boarded, slammed into a wall and isolated at a secret safe house in Thailand as part of CIA interrogations in 2002. And in 2003, a senior al-Qaida operative was arrested outside Bangkok after more than 200 people died in a Bali nightclub bombing.

 

The U.S. also wants strong relations with Thailand as a counterweight to China, whose influence is growing in the region.

 

Along with the State Department, the Labor Department has also flagged seafood from Thailand year after year as produced by forced labor in violation of international standards. Department of Homeland Security senior policy adviser Kenneth Kennedy referred to discussions for an action plan on labor abuse in Thailand that began in the fall.

 

"I think the U.S. government recently has realized that we need to pay attention to this area," he said. "We need to address conditions that have been reported for years and that are in the public minds and in the public eye very much."

 

Thailand itself says it is tackling labor abuse. In 2003, the country launched a national campaign against criminal organizations, including traffickers. In 2008, it adopted a new anti-human trafficking law. And last month, the new junta government cited the fight against trafficking as a national priority.

 

"This government is determined and committed to solving the human trafficking issues, not by words but by actions," Deputy Government Spokesman Maj. Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said. "We are serious in prosecuting every individual involved in the network, from the boats' captains to government officials."

 

However, a Thai police general on a fact-finding mission earlier this month to Benjina declared conditions were good and workers "happy." A day later, Indonesian authorities rescued more than 320 abused fishermen from the island village, and the number of workers waiting to be sent home has since risen to more than 560.

 

Under United Nations principles adopted in 2011, governments must protect against human rights abuses by third parties. However, some local authorities in Thailand are themselves deeply implicated in such practices, said Harvard University professor John Ruggie, who wrote the principles, known as the "Ruggie Framework," as a U.N. special representative. Also, Thailand's seafood industry, with annual exports of about $7 billion, is big business for the country and depends on migrant labor.

 

Migrant fishermen rescued from Benjina were bewildered to learn that their abuse has been an open secret for years. Maung Htwe, a 26-year-old migrant worker from Myanmar, did backbreaking work for Thai captains in Indonesian waters over seven years, earning less than $5 a day, if he was lucky.

 

"Sometimes I'm really angry. It's so painful. Why was I sold and taken to Indonesia?" asked Htwe, who was among the workers rescued from Benjina. "If people already knew the story, then they should have helped us and taken action."

 

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-- © Associated Press 2015-04-22

 

Via Thai Visa

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...and we see the Thai-ness:

 

Mr Seth Wannamethee, spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, said that EU’s warning showed that it was totally unaware of the determination and tangible progress made by Thailand in the attempt to solve the problem as well as Thailand’s long record of cooperation with the EU to fight against illegal fishing.

 

of course, it is the EU's fault :rotl: :rotl: :rotl: :rotl: :rotl:

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Defense Minister: Thailand will be able to have yellow card given by EU rescinded

 

BANGKOK, 23 April 2015 (NNT)- Defense Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan has said the yellow card, handed out to Thailand by the European Union (EU) for illegal fishing, will be rescinded in 6 months.

 

The meeting of related units was convened to discuss how to remove Thailand from the EU's watch list, following the latter's claims that Thailand had been unable to effectively deal with illegal fishing problems within the specified time frame.

 

Attending the meeting were officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Ministry of Labor, the Royal Thai Navy and Police commanders as well as the Department of Fisheries.

 

According to General Prawit, each agency would try to solve the chronic problems according to their roles and responsibilities. Relevant laws could be amended to make the prevention measures more effective.

 

A meeting will be held every week to follow up on the progress of each related agency. The Defense Minister said he believed significant progress would be made within 3 months, and that the EU's yellow card should be rescinded in six months.

 

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-- NNT 2015-04-23 footer_n.gif.pagespeed.ce.3uNL2Gw0hNe_jlF4kjib.gif

 

 

 

One hopes that this will be effective.

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Banker warns of dire effect on economy if fishing ban is enforced

 

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A leading banker is warning of the possible banning of Thailand’s fishery products by the European Union will have a dire effect on the country’s economy.

 

Banthoon Lamsam, chairman and chief executive officer of Kasikorn Bank, stated that the main problems facing the country at the moment are the economy, civil aviation industry and the fisheries sector.

 

But the last of which will require immediate attention as fishing standards, especially for boat crews, lags behind international standards which may result in the EU banning fishery products.

 

If so, this action will have an adverse affect on the country’s economy as in every year Thailand exports vast amounts of fishery products.

 

He advises that both the private and government sectors coordinate to resolve the problem to avoid an economic crisis that could cripple the country.

 

Meanwhile the Department of Harbour is coordinating with the relevant departments to solve the problem of human trafficking which is the root complaint of illicit human trade by western countries.

 

Nat Japjai, the deputy director-general of the Harbour Department, stated that they were coordinating with all the relevant government departments to quickly solve the problem of human trafficking which is the main point of contention with western nations and could possibly result in the EU yellow carding the country’s fishery products.

 

First to be tackled will be the stricter regulating and monitoring of all fishing vessels which will require them to be registered with the Harbour Department.

 

The deputy director-general revealed that the department will be foregoing inspection fees for vessels not exceeding 20 gross tons and new criteria will be formulated for the issuance of crew’s papers to address the problem of illegal workers.

 

He admitted that in the past counterfeit papers were widely used by fishing vessels but the problem is now being looked after by the Department for Special Investigations (DSI) and there should be a dramatic reduction in the foreseeable future.

 

LINK

______________________________________________________

 

Whilst one, like Bubi, is not qualified to comment on matters in LOS, because I am not being able to understand Thai-ness, because I was only having been married to ex-wife of Thai persuasion for 20 years and because I may care about what happens to LOS, I do feel moved to comment on the above journalistic missive, and suggest pertinent points that may not have occurred to the gentle reader, without my altruistic prodding, all done with the most caring and sharing and supportive intentions.

 

1. Thai government (such as it is, Military rulership) is seeking to avoid massive, massive monetary loss, for the Thai economy, by beginning to actually address, the issue of Slavery on fishing vessels. This is something that has been going on for a long time and well known to the world and Thais alike, but because there has been no impending massive, massive monetary loss, the Thais have been quite happy to keep face intact, ignore Slavery and pocket massive, massive profits.

 

2. Tourism, is not going as well as it could be, despite graphs and statements from TAT showing near vertical arrival and spending growth, the facts are that Tourism is hobbling along from one problem to the next, and value for money, is no longer present.

 

3. Thai airlines (severally), with old planes, nepotistic over staffing, the usual corruption, is seeing a real threat to continued revenue over safety concerns, this is important not just because some routes or new routes may not be allowed, but that if the travelling public get an idea that Thai planes are not safe, they'll fly with someone else, for decades.

 

4. There have been no recent pronouncements on the rice market, but the previous government heads, are being held to task, the financial loss to the country, is massive. It's not all beer and skittles in the rice trade.

-

Western Nations have long regarded Thailand like the little sibling, who pays lip service to the rules and being a sibling is not seriously punished as it grows up, but there comes a time when the sibling is old enough to bear the consequences of flouting the rules.

 

Thailand has no sense of being a sibling, but rather regards itself as 1st nation, unfortunately held back in all things by Westerners who are jealous of all that is Thai.

 

The unfortunate concept of face, is extremely detrimental to a nation, that is desirous of being a full member, of a modern world.

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  • 1 month later...

Firstly, please note the post earlier, entitled

 

"Defense Minister: Thailand will be able to have yellow card given by EU rescinded"

 

________________

 

Agriculture Min admits inability to end IUU fishing by deadline

 

BANGKOK, 5 June 2015 (NNT) – Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Petipong Pungbun Na Ayudhya has indicated a possibility that Thailand’s effort to eradicate illegal fishing will not yet be successful within the six-month deadline given by the European Union.

 

After Thailand was given a yellow card by the EU due to its failure to comply with the Regulation on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, Mr Petipong affirmed the government has clearly demonstrated its determination to address the issue. Personally, he believes it is unlikely for Thailand to become completely free from the problem of IUU fishing in a matter of only six months as demanded by the EU. However, he insisted that the goal will eventually be achieved with the cooperation from all sectors.

 

At present, the minister sees the need for the government to beef up its control of fishing methods that can be harmful to the environment and make amendments to the existing fishery laws for higher effectiveness. He said the overall operational plan will also have to be improved in order to restore the EU’s confidence while anticipating more clarity on the plan within this month.

 

Regarding the management of fishery workers to prevent human trafficking, Mr Petipong conceded it is a difficult task despite the ministry’s cooperation with the Royal Thai Navy and the Immigration Bureau. According to him, the inspection of fishing vessels departing and arriving at the port is especially hard to manage while the shortage of workers on board experienced by some operators is another issue to be addressed.

 

Ahem

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