Thai fishing vessels. (Photo: European Union)
EU puts off deadline for Thailand to address illegal fishing
THAILAND
Tuesday, May 24, 2016, 03:30 (GMT + 9)
The European Union (EU) has given Thailand another six months to end illegal fishing over a year after Brussels threatened Bangkok with a ban on Thai seafood product import.
The announcement was made by Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, who explained this benefit has been granted because they have always cooperated, Reuters reported.
The EU gave Thailand a yellow card in April 2015 for failing to prevent illegal, unregulated, unreported (IUU) fishing catch entering the supply chain and ending up in seafood exports to Europe.
In addition, the industry's reputation has been tarnished by instances of human trafficking to meet manpower demand, forced labor and violence.
To cooperate against IUU fishing, Thailand has set monitoring systems for fishing vessels and Bangkok has tightened regulations and imposed limitations on the catch, the director general of the Thai Fisheries Department, Adisorn Promthep, stressed.
The Director also highlighted that to prevent labour abuses and human traffickers selling people on to boats, authorities were also making more regular checks on vessels and demanded employers to give workers written contracts.
The EU yellow card had been a "wakeup call" to deal with an obsolete fisheries law, he added.
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- New effort to combat labour abuse in Thai fishing sector
- NGOs urge EU to put pressure on Thailand
- EU delegation assesses Thailand’s efforts to combat IUU fishing
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