Last month The Guardian, a British newspaper, published a story alleging that some small fishing boats based in Thailand use slave labor. It stated that by-catch from these boats went into fishmeal, and then to feed mills producing shrimp feed. The story concluded that Thai shrimp was thus tainted with slave labor.
The timing of the article’s publication was one week ahead of the planned release of the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report from the US State Department, in which Thailand was relegated to Tier 3 status.
On July 17, the Bangkok-headquartered Thai Frozen Foods Association (TFFA), whose membership include all Thai frozen shrimp exporters, issued the following statement to clarify its position on the labor issues:
- TFFA members do not employ underage workers. There is absolutely no child labor at any of our members’ premises.
- TFFA members’ employment practices are in full compliance with Thai labor laws, covering working conditions, wages, benefits and welfare.
- TFFA members provide workers with free health check-ups and immediate medical services.
- TFFA members’ employees have freedom of legal movements, as there are no restrictions, nor are they subject to seizure of documents or passports, etc.
- TFFA members’ employees are covered by work contracts in accordance with Thai labor laws.
- TFFA members do not discriminate on nationality. Workers performing the same work under the same conditions are paid the same wages, whether they are foreign migrants or Thai nationals.
The Thai Frozen Foods Association issued an additional four-point statement, seen below. It elaborates on the above items as well as the impact of EMS on shrimp production in recent years.
- TFFA strongly opposes child and forced labor. Our members have worked for many years to eliminate this horrific practice from the shrimp supply chain. Any member found violating the Ethical Code would be expelled and thus permanently barred from the trade. Members are monitored by the Good Labor Practice (GLP) program sanctioned by the International Labor Organization (ILO).
- Since we export only farm-raised shrimp, our leverage on fishing boats is minimal. Still, we insist that our suppliers not use any undocumented raw materials, to fulfill the traceability requirement. The Thai Fishmeal Producers Association has agreed to enforce this mandate, buying only from registered boats, which are monitored by the Thai Department of Fisheries.
- TFFA continuously supports schools for children of migrant workers, has worked with the ILO on mapping and monitoring of pre-processing facilities, and finances hotline operations run by the Labor Rights Promotion Network to provide needed advice and assistance to migrant workers in their own languages. As a result, the TIP Report of 2014 does not find any offenders concerning child labor or forced labor within the shrimp processing supply chain. The focus is now on the few undocumented boats and fragmented enforcement agencies.
- Because of the Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) disease outbreak, during the past three these past three years shrimp production in Thailand has been down to about one-third of the peak output level of 2010. Our market share in the EU is now less than 10%, and our ranking in the US dropped from first to fifth (less than 15% market share). We no longer dominate either markets, and there is much less pressure on hiring workers for the processing plants.
For TFFA members to maintain the high standards on both product and operational practices, we need the support of our trade partners everywhere. The article in The Guardian and the TIP Report have raised awareness of the problem, which we believe is very near the point of total and permanent solution.
