The Fisheries Agency updated the US Department of Labor on its efforts to eliminate forced labor on Taiwanese fishing vessels at a meeting in Washington on Friday, it said yesterday.
Taiwanese seafood products were added to the US’ List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2020, and the Fisheries Agency said it was hoping Washington would remove them from the next list, which is expected to be published later this month.
The labor department’s decision in 2020 came after 19 non-governmental organizations sent a letter to the department saying that “forced labor on Taiwanese longline fishing vessels continues unabated with little to no consequences.”
Photo: Wally Santana, AP
A delegation led by Fisheries Agency Director-General Chang Chih-sheng (張致盛) held a meeting with representatives from the department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs on Friday, the agency said in a statement.
The meeting was titled the Taiwan-US Bilateral Consultation on Fishery Labor Rights and Benefits, the agency said.
The delegation shared Taiwan’s progress in improving fishers’ human rights, Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Lin Kuo-ping (林國平) said in Taipei yesterday.
The agency said it told US officials that the Executive Yuan on May 20 approved its Action Plan for Fisheries and Human Rights.
The action plan covers major strategies for bolstering labor recruitment processes and the management of foreign-flagged fishing vessels and recruitment agents, as well as improving the monitoring and management of living and working conditions on longline fishing vessels, the agency said.
To be taken off the department’s list, Taiwan would be expected to increase the number of labor inspectors and inspections, and implement additional measures to safeguard the welfare of fishers, it said.
The US hopes that the prevalence of forced labor can be reduced by implementing social protection programs and establishing migrant fisher unions, itthe agency said.
The delegation also visited Greenpeace’s US branch to convey Taiwan’s support for safeguarding the rights of migrant fishers, it said.
Greenpeace was one of the first to draw wider attention to claims of labor rights violations on Taiwanese-flagged longline fishing vessels in a 2019 report titled Seabound: The Journey to Modern Slavery on the High Seas.
Meanwhile, the agency released a revision to the Regulations on the Authorization and Management of Overseas Employment of Foreign Crew Members (境外僱用非我國籍船員許可及管理辦法), saying that the minimum monthly wage was raised from US$450 to US$550, while the insurance compensation limit for deceased crew members was increased from NT$1 million to NT$1.5 million (US$32,563 to US$48,844) and the maximum pay-as-you-go medical insurance compensation limit was set at NT$300,000.
The standard for minimum daily rest hours was also amended to be in line with the ILO C188 Convention for migrant fishers, the agency said.
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