Nestle's labour abuse report not up-to-date

Nestle's labour abuse report not up-to-date

Fishing workers wait as officials check employment standards on fishing boats in Samut Songkhram province in early November. (Photo by Thiti Wannamontha)
Fishing workers wait as officials check employment standards on fishing boats in Samut Songkhram province in early November. (Photo by Thiti Wannamontha)

Nestle's report on labour abuse in Thailand's fishing industry was based on outdated information collected before the country adopted serious solutions, a senior labour official said.

Ananchai Uthaipattanacheep, deputy director-general of the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, said on Wednesday that an initial check showed that the report was based on old data available before the government introduced severe measures to tackle the problems of human trafficking and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Switzerland-based Nestle SA's investigation into labour situations in Thailand referred to forced labour, trafficking and child labour among sea-based and land-based workers in the Thai fishing industry.

Mr Ananchai said the report was a positive reflection of the international community, including the manufacturers which bought raw materials, being interested in their sources and helping to protect workers' rights.

He said his department was willing to receive labour complaints from operators and non-governmental organisations and deploy officials to take legal action to solve problems.

Mr Ananchai said Thailand already had a specific law to govern fishing and to protect all workers in the industry regardless of their nationalities.

The law banned the employment of workers aged under 18, set their wages to at least the minimum wage level and required their registration and yearly reports to authorities. There were also port-in-port-out controlling centres to ensure standard employment aboard fishing boats, Mr Ananchai said.

The Labour Ministry deployed teams of six to seven officials to regularly check fishing-related enterprises in 22 seaside provinces including Bangkok. The navy, the Marine Department, the Fisheries Department, the police, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security and the Labour Ministry assigned altogether 316 officials to the teams, Mr Ananchai said.

The European Union threatened earlier this year to ban Thai seafood imports if the country fails to improve the regulation of its fishing industry. The government has said it is working to address the concerns.

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