Taiwanese seafood products for the second consecutive time have been included in the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, published by the US Department of Labor on Wednesday.
This year’s report maintains the forced-labor designation that Taiwanese seafood first received in the previous edition in 2020.
Reports have been made of adults forced to work in Taiwan’s distant-water fishing fleet, which has more than 1,100 vessels in the world’s second-largest fleet, and employs an estimated 35,000 migrant workers, the report said.
The workers, mostly from Indonesia and the Philippines, are recruited by agencies that “sometimes deceive workers with false information regarding their wages and the terms of their contracts,” and require them to pay recruitment fees and sign debt contracts, it said.
The workers’ identity documents are often confiscated upon boarding, and they can spend months at sea without stopping at a port of call, working up to 22 hours per day, the report said.
Workers often “face hunger and dehydration, live in degrading and unhygienic conditions, and are subjected to physical violence or verbal abuse,” while being unable to leave the vessel or end their contracts, the report said, adding that many are not paid their promised wages, and have food and lodging fees illegally deducted, it said.
Greenpeace Taiwan said the listing would negatively affect Taiwan’s international reputation and its ability to export seafood products, due to a growing demand among consumers and retailers for ethically sourced seafood.
The Fisheries Agency said that after the 2020 report was published, it launched a four-year action plan for fisheries and human rights, with the goal of increasing workers’ salaries, improving labor conditions, better managing labor brokers and increasing government oversight.
Taiwan has also made several revisions 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), and has established a formal mechanism for reporting human and labor rights abuses, the agency said.
The revisions have raised the minimum monthly salary for workers on distant-water fishing vessels from US$450 to US$550, and require workers be covered by health insurance policies with minimum payouts of NT$300,000 (US$9,451) and life insurance policies worth NT$1.5 million, it said.
The agency earlier this month updated US officials on its efforts to improve conditions in the industry, it said.
While Taiwan’s inclusion in the latest report is “regrettable,” the agency strives to continue efforts to expand labor protections and be removed from the list as soon as possible, it added.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man