State agencies and big-name traders are joining forces to restore the confidence of food importers in Europe, battered by allegations of human rights abuse and trafficking problems in the Thai seafood industry.
Nopadol: EU sensitive about forced labour
A delegation consisting of high-ranking officials from the Labour Ministry, Agriculture Ministry, Foreign Ministry and Fisheries Department visited Paris in late October during the Salon International de l'Agroalimentaire (SIAL), one of the world's biggest food and beverage events.
The delegation decided to visit the SIAL after British broadsheet the Guardian published a report accusing the Thai shrimp fishing industry of relying on forced labour.
Charoen Pokphand Food was mentioned in the report as allegedly using slavery in its business.
Representatives from the company also joined the trip.
Thailand exports 190,000 tonnes of seafood — worth US$7 billion (229 billion baht) — each year to Europe.
Attempts to tackle the problem of forced labour have been complicated by the coup, despite the fact the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has tried to regulate migrant workers in the country.
Foreign Ministry director-general of the European Department, Sarun Charoensuwan, said the slavery article was the catalyst for the Thai delegation's visit to SIAL.
The US State Department and European Union (EU) criticised Thailand after the newspaper report was published.
The US State Department downgraded Thailand to the lowest status — Tier 3 — in its 2014 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for not fully complying with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, on par with Syria, Iran and North Korea.
"This affects our exports, so the government has joined hands with the private sector to solve the problem. We have to regain their confidence and convince them that we have measures in place to deal with this issue," Mr Sarun said.
In Paris, the Thai delegation held a seminar on "Advancement of Labour and Social Responsibility," aimed at explaining the labour situation in the country.
At SIAL, one of the UK's biggest supermarket distributors said customers paid attention to product quality, rather than production procedures, but admitted the news report had forced distributors to pull Thai products from some shelves.
"They [customers] do not care much about the procedure, but we needed to implement some measures to respond to the article, including pulling Thai products," the distributor said.
Deputy national police chief Ake Angsananont said police have stepped up efforts to combat forced labour.
He said the authorities faced difficulties in doing so as many worker identity documents that appear to be authentic are in fact forgeries.
"We found underage sex workers with documents guaranteeing that they are over 18, but they are not. This scenario happens in other sectors also," he said.
Senior expert from the Fisheries Department, Waraporn Prompoj, said inspections for forced labour have been conducted by six agencies, including the navy, Labour Ministry and his own department.
"It was a wake-up call for us since we have had similar operations before, but not with so many agencies coming together like this," Ms Waraporn said.
The president of the Thai Frozen Food Association Poj Aramwattananont said the enslavement of migrant workers carries on for several reasons, including the use of forged documents from countries of origin and unstable politics.
"We don't want to blame anyone for labour problems caused by trafficking, but sometimes it stems from loopholes that encourage illegal labour agents," he said.
After the SIAL, the Thai delegation headed to Brussels, holding a meeting with key importers, followed by EU officials.
At the meeting, Thai authorities and fisheries operators were asked to improve measures to combat illegal workers and forced labour in the fisheries industry.
"We told them about government measures to tackle illegal labour, such as the one-stop service centres and labour law amendments," said the Thai ambassador to Belgium Nopadol Gunavibool.
Mr Nopadol added that European nations regard the problem as a sensitive one because, although quality is a priority for customers, production is also important.
"The customers also want to know if those involved with the production of their food are protected.
"You have probably heard that customers do not want to buy meat products if they know the animals were not raised in good conditions," said the ambassador.
EU officials seek good labour practices in Thailand and want progress updates every six months, he said.
"We have not yet promised to give progress updates every six months, but have pledged to send the Thai delegation to the European Seafood Show in Brussels next May," Mr Sarun said.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Pitiphong Phuengboon Na Ayutthaya said the EU had asked the government to intensify efforts to stop unrestricted fishing.
"If the situation is not improved, the EU may impose yellow cards on seafood trade with Thailand," he said.