On 15 January 2016, the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry, and Banking — which comprises the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Thai Federation of Industries, and Thai Bankers Association, representing the three pillars of Thai companies — published a press release in connection with the Thai Fishery Producers Coalition outlining their progress and commitment to eradicate IUU fishing and illegal labour practices in Thai fishery sector. Details of the measures are as follows:

The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (KorKorRor) which comprise of Thai Chamber of Commerce; Thai Federation of Industries and Thai Bankers Association together with Thai Fishery Producers Coalition (TFPC) which comprise of eight (8) fishery product related associations namely the Thai Frozen Food Association; Thai Food Processors’ Association; Thai Shrimp Association; Thai Tuna Industry Association; National Fishery Association of Thailand; Thai Overseas Fishery Association; Thai Fishmeal Association; Thai Fishmeal Producer Association and Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (Thailand) which all their members are also members of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Thai Federation of Industries, are jointly notified the progress of their operations by the private sector i.e. the manufacturers and exporters in solving Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing throughout the supply chain of fishery products, and that they are strictly responsible and comply with the Fisheries Act 2015, International Standard in fishing and producing fisheries products on the sustainable basis without the use of child labor, labor trafficking nor exploiting workers.

Dr. Poj Aramwattananont, President of the Thai Fishery Producers Coalition (TFPC) stated on behalf of all the above mentioned private sector that all of these sectors have confirmed to co-operate and support all the policies and all the activities of the Government. Each and every trade association has amended their operations in accordance with the rules, regulations and policy as set by the Government in order to effectively create sustainable development and build up the confidence that IUU Fishing should be eliminated as soon as possible for the wealth of aquatic resources of Thailand. These practices will be in accordance with international standards and there will be no risk of the raw materials derived from IUU fishing to contaminate in the production chain. The operations in the fishing industry can be traced back, no child labor, no trafficking labor nor labor exploitation. Each organization has operated as follows:

1.  The Thai Chamber of Commerce and Thai Federation of Industries had declared their policy and speed up their support for their members to do all things correctly in accordance to the law, policy and order of the Government.

2.  Each Trade Association had declared their stand points and policies that their members must do every things in accordance to the Fisheries Act 2015 and do not buy raw material from the fishing boats nor supplies that do not comply with the Law. If found to be in contact with IUU Fishing or has problem in labor and human trafficking that member will be ban from membership and thus they cannot engage in their export.

3.  Cooperate with International Labor Organization (ILO) and Ministry of Labor since 2001 to educate all the members on Good Labor Practices (GLP) in their organizations.

4.  Co-operate with various human rights organizations both at home and abroad (NGO) in educating their members and their labor to comply with Labour Relations Act. Support budget for activities such as building school, education scholarship, hiring teachers and training seminars, etc.

5.  Co-operate fully with government agencies to implement and documentation on traceability control (Traceability) for products of all types. The farming sector will require a certificate of moving aquatic animals (Movement Document: MD), and the catching sector must have certificate of trades for aquatic animals (Marine Catch Purchasing Document: MCPD), including import and export sectors of all types of fishing must have documentation that can be verified and trace back.

6.  Support for the government to tackle IUU Fishing in accordance with international principles – UNCLOS 1982 and the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

7.  Support the Fisheries Act 2016 and the management plans for marine fisheries of Thailand, National Marine Fisheries Management Policy 2016.

8.  Each association has conducted a survey and had corrected their weaknesses on the issue of, goods throughout the production chain in order to ensure that all goods produced must not practice against the Fisheries Act BE 2558/ IUU Fishing/ labor law. For example, the Thai, Frozen Food Association and the Thai Tuna industry Association had already cancelled the use of peeling sheds outside the factory among their members, and so on.

Dr. Poj Aramwattananont concluded that “the private sector in this industry reaffirms and recognizes the importance of such cooperation and pledged to support the government’s policy to fix the problem IUU Fishing and labor law. We will be in compliance wtih Law and International legal standards, ethical guidelines for the good image of Thailand and Thai products. This makes Thailand’s seafood industry sustainable and become part of government policy of “Thailand: Kitchen to the World”.