EU warns Thailand to halt illegal fishing or face ban

[Lite Beer]

EU warns Thailand to halt illegal fishing or face ban

BANGKOK: -- The EU on Tuesday warned Thailand, the third largest seafood producer, that it had six months to halt illegal fishing or face an import ban in the world's single biggest market.


"Today's action constitutes a warning ... the burden is now on Thailand to take corrective measures," EU Agriculture and Fishery Commissioner Karmenu Vella said.


After discussions on remedies dating back to 2011, the European Commission had decided to issue Thailand a 'yellow card,' with a 'red card' and punishment to follow if there was no improvement, Vella told a press briefing.


"I urge Thailand to join the European Union in the fight for sustainable fisheries. Failure to take strong action against illegal fishing will carry consequences," he said.


The Commission, the EU's executive arm, said Thailand's fisheries monitoring as well as its control and sanctioning systems were inadequate and had to be brought up to international standards.


Belize, Guinea, Cambodia and Sri Lanka were all hit with import bans in the past but remedial efforts by Belize meant it had now been taken off the blacklist, it said.


Additionally, 'yellow cards' against South Korea and the Philippines had been withdrawn after "they carried out appropriate reforms of their legal systems and are now equipped to tackle illegal fishing."


"Both South Korea and the Philippines have taken responsible action, amended their legal systems and switched to a proactive approach against illegal fishing," Vella said.


The Commission said illegal fishing accounted for at least 15 percent of the global catch and was worth up to 19 billion euros a year.


"As the world's biggest fish importer, the EU does not wish to be complicit and accept such products into its market," it said.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2015-04-21

[geriatrickid]

6 months is too long. Thailand has long been accused of overfishing in African waters and despite multiple requests has kept at it As the impoverished Africans could not enforce their offshore sovereignty.

[Costas2008]

Right......get ready members to start reading, from tomorrow morning, the endless discussions, intentions and actions that will be taken by this government in the future.

They are all very good, including the PM, of giving reassurances, as about doing something about it, I doubt it.

Till the EU imposes the ban......................

[krystian]

Why not tell the chinese too!!

[webfact]

YELLOW CARD
EU warning to Thai fishery
Petchanet Pratruangkrai,
Erich Parpart
The Nation

European union gives govt six months to tackle illegal, unregulated fishing practices, as well as trafficking; ministry voices disappointment

BANGKOK: -- The European Union has threatened to impose sanctions on Thailand's seafood exports to its lucrative 28-country market if the Thai government fails to take urgent action to eradicate illegal fishing and related practices.

The country has been given six months to address the issue - or face an import ban likely to cost Bt19-25 billion a year.

According to a statement from the EU, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha's government is expected to come up with concrete policies to counter illegal fishing and labour abuses.

As a major exporter of seafood, Thailand's annual revenue from the industry is about 5 billion euros, or nearly Bt 174 billion.

The European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs, and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella said: "I urge Thailand to join the EU in the fight for sustainable fisheries. Failure to take strong action against illegal fishing will carry consequences."

The Thai Foreign Ministry said yesterday that "Thailand is deeply disappointed at the EU's decision". The decision reflected its failure to recognise the longstanding cooperation between Thailand and the EU's competent authorities, a ministry statement said.

The government was now seizing the issue firmly, it said. It would match words with deeds through structural changes, law amendments and the passing of new laws, prosecution, and preventive measures, it said.

"Thailand will continue to cooperate with the EU to combat IUU (illegal fishing) activities and promote sustainable fishing," the ministry said.

At this stage, the Thai government and private sector remain optimistic as there are ongoing efforts to counter such issues, which are linked to human trafficking, and the Kingdom is in the process of enforcing laws to improve the protection of labour in the fishery industry.

Commerce Minister General Chatchai Sarikulya said in the next six months the government would work closely with private enterprise to tackle labour issues, with a high powered panel chaired by the prime minister and hoped that the EU would not impose the ban.

Deputy Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said "the government has only a short period of time to work on the problem and some laws have not yet been enacted so the EU decided to issue the warning.

"However, I hope they will see the fruit of our work soon and do not impose any sanction on Thai fishery products shipped to their market," Apiradi said.

Poj Aramwattananont, president of the Thai Frozen Foods Association, said Thailand needs to communicate with the EU more effectively on the works done to improve labour protection.

"In the past several months, none of the EU firms have banned or reduced imports from Thailand for fishery products. Thai companies have tried to create an understanding and show our buyers that we follow good labour practices," Poj said.

Thiraphong Chansiri, president and CEO of Thai Union Group, the biggest Thai frozen sea food producer, said "This is rather disappointing news. The yellow card should also be seen as an opportunity to aggressively move forward the Thai fishing industry towards sustainable fisheries management and conservation of marine resources." The company would give support to the government to tackle the problem, he said.

Shipments down this year

According to an International Trade Promotion Department report, Thai shipments of preserved and prepared fish and fishery products to the EU dropped 21 per cent in the first two months of this year to US$46 million (Bt1.48 billion). Last year, exports were down 39 per cent to $389 million, while shipments of fishery products in 2013 were valued at $646.8 million.

In October 2014, the EU's Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries issued a letter to the Thai government to point out many serious problems related to the Thai fishing industry, such as human trafficking, "hyper-fishing" and unregistered fishing boats.

With global stocks of fish dwindling, the EU has started to take increasingly tough action against nations that it feels are not playing by the rules. The EU says illegal fishing around the globe accounts for 15 per cent of catches and has created a 10 billion euro black market that is hurting the environment and fishing communities.

Director of the Bank of Thailand (BOT)'s Macroeconomic Policy Office Don Nakornthab said possible EU sanctions could create a large impact on the industry as the proportion of Thai exports of processed and non-processed seafood to the Euro-zone was big when compared to the total fishery exports.

"Exports of non-processed seafood to Europe were worth around $320 million last year, which is the industry's third biggest export market, while exports of processed seafood to the Euro-zone accounted for $300 million or around 10 per cent of the country's total export of processed seafood to the world in the same period of time," he said.

"Nevertheless, the Thai government has been working to fix the issue of human trafficking in the fishery industry since last year. So I believe that we will not face sanction," he said.

Tawee Boonying, president of the Ranong fishermen's association, said the government had to step up its crackdown on illegal labour in the fishing industry, even though the province had set up a joint panel with the private sector to deal with this problem. As well as the EU's potential ban on Thai seafood exports, the US could also maintain its Tier 3 rating in its annual Trafficking in Persons report, due in June.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/EU-warning-to-Thai-fishery-30258478.html


-- The Nation 2015-04-22

[webfact]

The European Union Threatens to Ban Thai Seafood Imports

BANGKOK: -- Thailand is facing a major issue with a potential seafood import ban from the European Union. The EU states that Thailand has not done enough to curb unregulated fishing and unreported fishing practices.

The ban would equal $600 million euros a year in lost revenue for the country.

The EU has given Thai authorities 6 months to correct the issue or risk an EU trade ban. Serious monitoring and control of fisheries in Thailand are the biggest concern, states Karmenu Vella, the EU Fisheries Commissioner. If the illegal fishing continues, serious consequences will follow.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/819131-the-european-union-threatens-to-ban-thai-seafood-imports/

[PaullyW]

It will be wonderful if by some coincidence we have

Thai seafood banned in EU (and then probably US) -- until they transparently clean up the problem rather than talking

Necessary Thai airlines blacklisted -- until they transparently clean up the problem rather than talking

Thai tourism impacted by the new legislation which is just like Martial law -- until the country has resolved it's political concerns and addressed the rampant crime and problems that affect foreigner safety in Thailand.

Seems the whole economy could come tumbling down, and Thailand would deserve it. Most people do not seek out to dislike their host country, but through unbelievable arrogance and active exclusion of "us v. them", Thailand makes it incredibly difficult to love it. When the country has grown up and can admit and address it's problems like adult, civilized countries, I'm sure people will give credit where it is due.

But, until then, I hope all foreign countries force Thailand to acknowledge that it is not an island that can do as it pleases without serious consequences.

[SoFarAndNear]

No Problem...the chinese and russians will help out....

[SoFarAndNear]

According to a statement from the EU, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha's government is expected to come up with concrete policies to counter illegal fishing and labour abuses.

More policies, higher penalties even possible death penalty... did it work? The problem is that you can buy yourself out with money....

[Kimagure]

So.. I guess since the EU is threatening a ban, the typical Thai reaction will be.. to send a (legal) mob of Thais to the US embassy to hold a demonstration..

[Just1Voice]

Thailand merely pays lip service to warnings, until the warnings get serious. They they complain that other countries, or the EU, just don't understand Thailand and how they do things. And until Thailand wakes up and realizes it is not the center of the universe, and that they are not superior to the rest of the world, nothing is going to change.

[CWMcMurray]

I think what the EU is going to be looking for is high profile arrests and convictions...

I hope that all understand this and do not just try to set up committees or new laws.

As understand that there are already relevant laws that can be used

All that is needed is the heart and conviction to aggressively enforce the current laws

Am afraid that if just transferring responsible parties the EU will not look on this as taking appropriate actions.

I truly do hope that this is worked out, as a ban on Thai Seafood exports would be a significant blow to the Thai economy.

As once the ban is put in place, EU importers will look for new suppliers. Once business is switched to others, even if the problem Is later resolved, there will likely be a significant portion of buyers that will stay with new suppliers, so their business will be for lever lost.

This is just a truism in any type of business... a customer lost is much harder to get back once you loose their business the first time.

Edited April 22, 2015 by CWMcMurray

[Commerce]

Deputy Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said "the government has only a short period of time to work on the problem..."

Same old. Leave it until last minute and then complain of not having had enough time. Bowlocks!

[jollyhangmon]

Same old indeed, nothing more effective than threatening to hit their wallets ...

[DM07]

Wait for it.....

[crickets]

half of the catch from thai fisherman is uneadable and goes to make prawn food. They dont throw away baby fish just selfishly pillage everything because thats the thai

[boomerangutang]

The abuse of the seas is such a widespread issue, it's hard to know where to start when pointing fingers. I went out on a small fishing catamaran off the coast of Sri Lanka (built from logs and rope) and their meager catch consisted of baby fish and some shrimp. They only wanted shrimp, so they threw all the baby fish (85% of the catch) back to the sea. By that time, all the baby fish were dead. That's just the tiniest tip of the iceberg of problems at sea. Fishermen and other boats dump trash and ceaselessly. Probably the same for toxic chemicals (cleaning out hulls, ballast, etc). As a species, we're trashing the oceans and decimating other species at a phenomenal rate. Humans score F- for husbandry. Despicable.

....and what about dugongs? There are very few left along Thailand's coasts. They're a gnat's ass from extinction in Thailand. There could be refuges put aside for them (which would help many other species survive), but Thais are near worthless regarding environmental endeavors. Indeed, if a Thai environmentalist stood up for something like that, and if it impacted on any rich Thai person, the environmentalist would be murdered. It's happened many times in the recent past (Nation newspaper chronicled 20 killings in the first decade of this century). Result: to be an active environmentalist in Thailand, is to take on a high risk of being murdered. BTW, of all the Thai environmentalists killed, guess how many murderers were investigated and found guilty? Yup, you guessed it: ZERO.

[wabothai]

Mr. Thailand there is a price to be paid for sitting at the table with the big guys. There is no way around it, unless you withdraw in protest and self-pity and find no other way than throw out all these beasts out and knock at the door of North Korea.

Just take the warnings as something to learn from, take off your stiffened white suits and get serious, not in words but in deeds.

Even we westerners pay a price we don't really like. Welfare does not grow on trees.

[Srikcir]

Will Thai fishermen protest at the EU Embassy?

[Srikcir]

If the Eu goes forward with a ban, it might encourage the US to do the same with Thailand being on the Tier 3 listing.

[puipuitom]

Sorry, but this is not “falling out of the sky”, or .. like an “earthquake”, but.. was foreseeable years ago.

Only Thai ministers and MP’s involved in the fish industry preferred to do nothing… as usual.

In 1995 a Thai fish cannery already complained to me, competitors of them even dynamited fish out of the coral. Nobody gave a damn.

The EU learnt the hard way, what happens if you do not control fishing: thanks to too many and too big ships in the North Sea up till Iceland.. cod was nearly wiped out. Also other fish revenues sank to close to zero. With many years of catch levels, sea life returned.

Fiji, Panama, Togo, and Vanuatu were yellow carded in 2012, Curaçao, Ghana, South Korea in November 2013 and the Philippines in June 2014 and Belize, Cambodia, and Guinea got red carded in March 2014. Belize, Fiji, Panama, Togo, and Vanuatu have recently had the threat of sanctions lifted (delisted).

The most important of them was the “port state measures” agreement, under which coastal nations have committed to keep foreign vessels suspected of illegal fishing out of their ports.

Also, those nations either sold flags of convenience — registrations having nothing to do with the location of the actual owners — or otherwise failed to cooperate in efforts to stop illegal fishing.

As a result of a thorough analysis and a series of discussions with Thai authorities since 2011, the Commission has denounced the country's shortcomings in its fisheries monitoring, control and sanctioning systems and concludes that Thailand is not doing enough.

In October 2014, the EU's Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries issued a letter to the Thai government to point out many serious problems related to the Thai fishing industry, such as human trafficking, illegal, unregulated fishing practices, "hyper-fishing" and unregistered fishing boats.

Up to 40 percent of tuna imported to the EU from Thailand is illegal or unreported : Thai fishing /processing boats are “robbing the seas and Oceans “all over the world, but as all is landed at Thai ports, it is seen as ”product of Thailand”.

Time enough to start measurements to stop illegal practises,.

And.. if not... do not try to sell your fish in the EU.

[Thai at Heart]

So is the issue fisheries management or employment of illegals and slavery?