Thailand yesterday said that seafood exports to the US, Europe and Australia have not been hit by reports of slavery and forced labor by campaign groups and media.
The comments come as Thailand, the world’s third-largest seafood exporter, faces increasing pressure to crack down on illegal fishing or face the risk of bans on its fish exports and to investigate accusations of slavery in its seafood industry.
Thailand has come under fire from rights groups over allegations of trafficking, abuse and exploitation on its fishing boats, following investigations by media and campaign groups.
“Australia’s seafood importers told us that, even though there are problems, they would continue buying seafood because Thailand is trying to really resolve the human trafficking problem,” Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of American and South Pacific Affairs Director-General Songsak Saicheua told reporters.
The government has checked more than 100 seafood processing plants and shut down one since April, he said.
“America, Europe and Australia have confidence in importing frozen seafood from us,” Songsak said.
Reuters was not immediately able to contact the US and Australian embassies in Bangkok for comment.
The European Commission declined to comment.
British-based rights and environment group Environmental Justice Foundation last month released a report after a three-year investigation into slavery on Thai fishing boats, saying it had uncovered a well-oiled system of trafficking, abuse and exploitation of fishermen, many of them migrants from Thailand’s poorer neighbors, Myanmar and Cambodia.
That followed a report by Swiss food giant Nestle SA that slave labor was used in its Thai seafood supply chain, adding to calls to clean up the billion US dollar industry dogged for years by allegations of abuse.
The EU is to decide next year whether to ban fish imports from Thailand after it issued the kingdom a warning in April for failing to crack down on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Thailand on Sunday said it had worked closely with the EU in rectifying the problem, adding that an EU delegation is due to visit Thailand next month.
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