EU to Put Thailand on Seafood Import Ban Notice
news.com.au
April 21, 2015
The European Union is to give Thailand six months to drastically change its policies on illegal and unregulated fishing or face an EU seafood import ban by the end of the year.
Two people with knowledge of the decision have told The Associated Press that the 28-nation bloc will give Thailand an ultimate warning or it could face export losses of over half a billion euros a year. The move is to be officially announced on Tuesday. The sources, including one EU official, spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement has yet to be made. They said Thailand now has six months to come forward with a new approach to stave off the ban.
Thailand is a major exporter of seafood, with yearly revenues of almost 5 billion euros ($A6.95 billion), and an EU ban would seriously affect the industry. Annual exports to the EU are estimated to be worth between 575 million euros and 730 million euros.
As the global stocks of fish are dwindling, the EU has started to take increasingly tough action against EU nations which it feels are not playing by the rules.
The EU says that illegal fishing around the globe accounts for some 15 per cent of catches and has created a 10 billion euro black market that is hurting the environment and fishing communities alike.
Now, the EU hopes it can start co-operating with Thailand so that it improves its practices by tightening the practical and legal loopholes that the illegal fishing industry now exploits.
After the so-called "yellow card" it can go back to a green card for nations that fully meet EU standards, or the EU can issue a red card and impose the trade ban.
EU to put Thailand on fishing notice
EU Issues Final Fishing Warning
Bangkok Post
April 22, 2015
Thailand has expressed deep disappointment after the European Union (EU) issued a final warning, a so-called "yellow card" to the country, and gave Thailand six months to drastically improve measures against illegal fishing or face an import ban.
"Although the yellow card does not introduce trade sanctions on European imports of Thai fishery products, it has been a source of grave discouragement that the EU chose to ignore the very earnest efforts of the past six months by the Royal Thai Government in addressing all issues which once were deemed the causes of illegal, unreported and unregulated [IUU] fishing," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued yesterday following the EU decision.
The ministry said Thailand takes allegations of IUU fishing very seriously. The measures which were implemented by the government include structural changes, legal amendments and passage of new laws, prosecution, and preventive measures as major instruments.
"Thailand is deeply disappointed at the EU's decision," the statement said.
More importantly, the EU's decision reflects its failure to recognise the longstanding cooperation between Thailand and EU authorities, the statement added. "Thailand calls on the EU to take into account the country's substantial and tangible progress in combating IUU fishing. The EU's assessment must be transparent, fair, non-discriminatory, and based on accurate facts and latest developments."
However, the government vowed to cooperate with the EU to combat IUU activity and urged the EU to rescind the yellow card as soon as progress has been made.
According to the European Commission's announcement yesterday, the country has failed in its fisheries monitoring, control and sanctioning systems and it concluded that Thailand is not doing enough, based on analysis and a series of discussions with Thai authorities since 2011.
"Our rigorous EU policy on a harmful practice such as illegal fishing, together with our genuine capacity to act, is paying off. I urge Thailand to join the EU in the fight for sustainable fisheries. Failure to take strong action against illegal fishing will carry consequences," European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, said in the statement.
full article: EU issues final fishing warning | Bangkok Post: news
Prayut Gets Indonesian Backing to Tackle [IUU] Fishing
The Nation
April 24, 2015
Thailand yesterday got a helping hand from Indonesia with President Joko Widodo accepting Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha's proposal to set up a working group on fisheries and related affairs for solving problems resulting from illegal unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing activities in foreign countries' territorial waters.
During the two-day Asian-African Leaders' Summit in Jakarta, which ended yesterday, the two leaders agreed to work together to crack down on the use of illegal labour and IUU practices as well as on protection of marine resources via the Thai-Indonesian working group, which would be headed by Thai deputy premier Prawit Wongsuwan and his Indonesian counterpart.
The crucial bilateral cooperation comes at a time when Thailand's fisheries industry has been given an ultimatum by the European Union with the threat to ban Thai products in its lucrative market if the country did not effectively solve IUU problems within the next six months.
Due to its vast territorial waters and abundant marine resources, Indonesia is one of the foreign countries where the Thai fishing fleet has been operating. According to Yongyuth Maiyarap, the government's chief spokesman, Thailand and Indonesia will sign a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on fisheries and related affairs shortly.
Prayut said Thailand had solved several problems involving the IUU practices but there had been some delays in enforcing additional measures.
He hoped the EU would be patient and give Thailand the opportunity to complete its task. Several laws are involved in tackling the IUU issue and part of the new regulations are still pending in the National Legislative Assembly. He added that the government had earlier exercised its authority under Article 44 of the interim charter to speed up the setting-up of one-stop service centres and would ensure those violating the new fisheries and related laws would be heavily penalised.
Deputy PM and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said the government will issue an emergency regulation to effectively solve problems related to IUU practices within the next three months so that the EU may issue a "green" card to Thailand's fisheries sector, which was given the "yellow" card earlier this week. The "yellow" card could lead to a ban on Thai fishery products in the EU market, which is worth Bt20 billion to Bt30 billion annually.
Prawit said he would chair the meeting on solving IUU problems every week, working closely with the agriculture, labour and foreign ministers, as well as their permanent secretaries besides the Navy commander-in-chief and the director-general of Harbour and Fisheries departments.
The government's emergency decree will cover measures to solve illegal fishing, unregulated fishing, and unreported fishing in Thai waters and foreign countries' territorial waters where Thai-registered boats are operating.
EU Officials to Observe Progress
The EU is expected to send a team of officials to observe progress on solutions to the IUU issue next month before it makes the decision whether to ban Thai fishery products in its market later this year.
Thailand's new fisheries act will include measures that would modernise regulations for the Thai fishing fleet and other related issues so as to meet EU and international standards.
Over the next two months, Prawit said a task force will be responsible for communicating with EU officials on progress of the government's work, especially with regard to new rules and regulations that would be enforced on coastal fishing in the country's 22 provinces.
Prawit said Article 44 of the interim charter might not be necessary in solving the IUU problems, which could be better handled by the issuing of an emergency decree.
Meanwhile, Surapong Kuang-jantuek, chairman of the National Human Rights Commission's subcommittee on migrant workers and related issues, said he would support the government's use of Article 44 of the interim charter to enforce rules and regulations of the new fisheries act.
Prayut gets Indonesian backing to tackle fishing - The Nation
Prayut: All hands On Deck to Fix Fishery
Bangkok Post
April 24, 2015
The future of Thai seafood exports to Europe depends on measures to tackle illegal fishing but the prime minister says he cannot guarantee that the country will meet the deadline.
Thailand has been given six months to prove to the European Union that it is cleaning up the fishery and eliminating forced and slave labour. If it cannot do so, it could lose the opppoprtunity to export 575 million euros a year worth of seafood to the 27-country bloc.
The country no longer has the luxury of time, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha said in his weekly television address on Friday night. "I cannot guarantee that we will able to solve the problem in six months," he said. "It depends on everybody, whether or not we can meet this time frame."
His statement ran counter to that of Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, who promised earlier that the EU would withdraw its "yellow card" within the next six months. However, most people in the fishing industry believe that Gen Prawit's optimism is misplaced and say real reform will take a long time as successive governments have ignored mounting problems.
To eliminate the threat of an EU ban, Thailand needs to improve fishery-related laws and make more serious efforts to prevent illegal catches and the use of forced labour by fishing vessels.
Authorities have registered 50,970 trawlers as part of its campaign, according to the prime minister. A source at the Marine Department said on Thursday that about 1,000 more remained to be documented. GPS and vessel monitoring systems must be installed in all craft in the Thai fleet to keep them in check and make sure that the ships do not damage the environment and violate fishery regulations.
"We have to know where they are catching fish, otherwise we cannot regulate them," the prime minister said.
The government agreed on Thursday to set up fishery control centres in all 22 coastal provinces to monitor all trawlers and their catch.
Gen Prayut stressed that cooperation from the private sector was essential to ensure that the country would not face an EU ban.
Some commentators had urged Gen Prayut to deal with the issue by using Section 44 of the interim constitution, which gives him almost unlimited power. "I cannot use Article 44 to solve every problem," he said on Friday, though he indicated that it could be applied in to certain specific situations.
"From now on, I will set up centres in different ports. I will assign soldiers and police to guard them. Each ship that comes and goes must cooperate with us. That is how I will use [Section 44]," he said. "If they leave without reporting, if they don't know where their crews are, that's wrong, and that's what causes the problem that gives me headaches every day."
Thailand exported fishery products worth 575 million euros to EU members last year. The figure accounted for about one-third of the value of Thai seafood shipments worldwide and 3% of all Thai exports shipped to the EU.
Prayut wants all hands on deck | Bangkok Post: news
