The government claims concrete progress has been made in tackling labour abuses in the fishing industry, in hopes of avoiding a "yellow card" from the European Union (EU). Such a warning could put Thailand at risk of fishing-trade sanctions.
Speaking on behalf of the Defence Ministry, which plays roles in suppressing human trafficking, spokesman Kongcheep Tantrawanich said yesterday the anti-human trafficking panel led by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan has been working to avoid the warning called Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU) which would affect bilateral trade between Thailand and the EU.
Col Kongcheep said the joint working group, consisting of the Harbour Department, Fisheries Department, Customs Department, Labour Ministry, the marine police, immigration and the navy have been working comprehensively, especially on regulating fishing boats.
"So far 50,970 of around 53,000 fishing boats have registered and the authorities have told the boat owners to apply for fishing permits," he said.
Aside from registrations, other measures were implemented, particularly fishing vessel inspections in ports and the installation of Vehicle Monitoring Systems (VMS) on boats, which are expected to be ready for operation by the end of this month, according to the defence spokesman.
The navy is in charge of monitoring fishing boats both within and outside Thai waters while migrant workers in the fishing industry have also entered the Labour Ministry's regulation process, Col Kongcheep said.
Gen Prawit yesterday reiterated that the government aims to comply with EU international fishing standards. Thailand is also cooperating with Indonesia and Vietnam in resolving fishing problems.
"I insist we have been trying to improve fishing standards to meet EU requirements, so, I do not know why they [EU] are going to give us a yellow card," Gen Prawit said.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha asked for cooperation from all relevant sectors, especially employers and workers, saying the warning from foreign countries would negatively affect the country.
"We have received warning signs from several directions, both from the US Trafficking in Persons [TIP] report and the likely yellow card from the EU. We have to resolve this as soon as possible. If we fail to do so, we cannot sell fishing products," Gen Prayut said.
Agriculture Minister Pitipong Phuengboon Na Ayudhaya, said the EU's attitude has become more positive since Thailand informed them of the progress the country had made. Thailand plans, for instance, to introduce a new fisheries law.
The EU last year reported that many fishing practices in Thailand were not in accordance with EU regulations, especially human trafficking and labour abuses in the fisheries industry.
The EU has threatened to impose trade sanctions if the government fails to come up with plans to deal with the problems.
If the EU issues a red card, the European bloc may ban seafood products from Thailand.
Regarding the TIP report, deputy foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said on Thursday that the international community had requested to see more investigations of human trafficking cases after the country made some progress and submitted a summary report to the US in January.
Without mentioning the countries, Mr Don, who is also chairman of the National Sub-Commission on Law, Partnership and Awareness Promotion on Trafficking in Persons, said the international community does recognise that Thailand is trying to take action to end human trafficking.
"The international community, however, demanded disclosure of larger numbers of human trafficking rings and suspects involved in the cases," he said.
To ensure concrete progress with anti-human trafficking activities, the international community also requested that Thailand present information comparing its handling of human trafficking cases before and after the country was downgraded last June.
In addition, he said the Office of the Attorney-General plans to establish special judicial agencies to handle human trafficking cases, such as a prosecution office and a court.
"These agencies will look after human trafficking cases to speed up the justice process and reduce the number of future cases," the deputy foreign minister said.
Ahead of the submission deadline for the updated TIP report to the US, Mr Don said the report will be finished in time and he expects positive reactions from the international community, particularly from the TIP Office in the US and from the EU.