“Consumers in Europe, the US and Japan should be confident that their seafood from Thailand didn’t involve trafficked or forced labour,” said Brad Adams, HRW’s Asia director. Some measures, such as vessel-monitoring systems and limiting time at sea to 30 days, have led to important improvements for fishery workers, the HRW report said. However, measures to address forced labour and other important labour and human rights protection measures often prioritise form over results, according to the report. In its 2015 report on human trafficking, Thailand revealed that inspections of 474,334 fishery workers failed to identify a single case of forced labour. “The Thai government’s lack of commitment means that regulations and programmes to prevent forced labour in the fishing industry are failing,” Adams said.

Source: The Nation Bangkok January 23, 2018 13:48 UTC