#Thailand EU warns Thailand 'dramatic improvement' needed for seafood sector

By Martin Banks

Thailand has been warned to expect an import ban on fisheries products to the EU unless there is a "dramatic improvement" in addressing problems in the sector.  

However, a deadline given to the Thai junta to comply with international fishing regulations has been extended.

The EU had warned that failure to take "strong action" against illegal fishing would "carry consequences" and issued a six-month deadline to the Thai authorities last April to tackle "illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU).   This expired in October without any further action and, on Wednesday, the European Commission said that the "yellow card" warning to Thailand would remain in place "until further notice".

This, effectively, means that Thailand has been given an extension to implement an "action plan" agreed with the Commission  last year to address shortcomings in its fishing industry.

The Commission had wanted "real signs of change and delivery on commitments" but now says it "cannot give an indication on the timing of the decision" (of whether it will issue a "red card", or import ban.     "The Commission has regular contacts with Thailand, including technical missions to review the situation and the yellow card warning remains in place," a spokesman for the executive told EUReporter.     An EU delegation plans to conduct another assessment of the Thai fishing industry from January 17 to 23.

However, speaking to this website, a leading international human rights organisation insisted that the possibility of an import ban "must remain a real threat."

Its spokesman, who did not wish to be named, said, "They (the  EU) have told us they think a yellow card is more likely to produce results and that if things don’t improve dramatically a red card will come next time. I tend to agree with this, that it’s better to keep the threat of a red card for now, so long as it’s a real threat."

Elsewhere, reaction to the EU decision to extend the deadline was mixed, with Swedish Greens MEP Linnea Engstrom, a deputy chair of the European Parliament's fisheries committee, saying, "It was quite expected that the yellow card would remain in place. It was always clear that the time was rather short for the tremendous changes that needs to be dealt with in the Thai-fisheries sector."

She added: "To set up a fully operating VMS-system which is working properly, with proper monitoring, port-in and port-out services fully working and so on is no piece of cake, with Thailand beginning almost from scratch. To me it seems impossible to manage during such a short period of time."

But Richard Corbett, a senior UK socialist MEP and also a member of the fisheries committee, was more critical, commenting, "IUU fishing causes considerable environmental and economic loss and has a wider impact on the livelihoods and food security of coastal populations in Thailand.

"IUU fishing costs the global economy €22 billion per year. Such pirate fishing also causes significant environmental damage."

The EU has repeatedly warned Thailand, the world's third-largest seafood exporter, that it should "promptly" address the human rights and slavery issues that have dogged its seafood industry if it wants to stave off an EU seafood import ban.

The EU wants nations to be able to track their vessels and make sure they declare their catches to promote sustainable fishing and counter overfishing.

Last year, several investigative reports by The Associated Press focused on slavery in the seafood industry and resulted in the rescue of 2,000 men, highlighting longstanding abuses in Thai fisheries.

Thailand is a major exporter of seafood, with yearly revenues of almost €5 billion and an EU ban would seriously affect the industry.Annual Thai fish exports to the EU are estimated to be worth between €575 million and €730m.

Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella recently said that even though the 28-nation bloc was primarily assessing Thailand's improvements in stamping out illegal fishing, there was no sidestepping the slavery issue.

Beyond illegal fishing though, Thailand also faces the slavery issue. The United States downgraded Thailand to the lowest rank in their annual Trafficking in Person report (TiP) while the European Parliament last autumn overwhelmingly adopted a resolution condemning "slave like" conditions in the Thai seafood industry.

Both the yellow card and TiP ranking have raised questions about whether the government has done enough to solve the issues.

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