Thai prawns and other seafood imports are once again being linked to modern slavery

Tuna, prawns and crab from Thailand could be removed from supermarket shelves in the West if the southeast Asian country waters down laws designed to protect seafarers, say European officials. 

Investigations a decade ago revealed that fishermen were being trapped on Thai ships for years as modern slaves. Many were brutalised and reports of murder also surfaced, while illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing flourished. 

The situation was calmed at the time by the introduction of legislation designed to protect workers and international sanctions were avoided.

Now, however, Thai lawmakers are drafting new legislation which looks set to drastically weaken those protections.

According to analysis from the Environmental Justice Foundation, an international environmental NGO, they include amendments dropping the necessity of a crew list when leaving the docks, and enabling the transfers of workers and products from one boat to another at sea.

“The new Thai government of [prime minister] Srettha Thavisin is pursuing a policy of human rights and environmental backsliding in the fishing sector out of a motivation that contains equal parts of greed, ignorance and denial,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. 

“If the proposed changes in law go through, Thailand will return to the bad old days of at sea transshipment of product and fishermen that fueled the systematic and pervasive use of trafficked labour to underpin IUU fishing schemes.” 

Prodprasop Suraswadi, an advisor to the prime minister, told a recent panel in Bangkok that the changes were needed because current legislation is overly bureaucratic and burdensome, contributing to reduced exports and profits. He added that they were enacted by an unpopular and undemocratic military-backed government, following the 2014 coup. 

A spokesperson for Move Forward party, which supports the changes, added: “Our stance on amending the fishery law is to amend the punishment clauses to be fairer and more proportionate to the crime.” He insisted some of the changes would not “create loopholes that could lead to labour abuses”.

But an EC spokesperson told the Telegraph that a “yellow card” – which was first introduced in 2015 – or other sanctions could be applied if plans to undo regulations continued. This could potentially restrict or even halt trade, hitting Western consumers. 

“The Commission is very concerned about Thailand’s legislative proposal,” a spokesperson said, adding that the bloc considers the changes as a “substantive relaxation of the current rules” which are “not in line with Thailand’s obligations under international law”.

“Thailand has so far been considered by the Commission as one of the most successful IUU dialogues between the EU and a third country, and one of the best examples of constructive cooperation in this field,” the spokesperson said. “[The reforms] contributed to increase transparency and achieve a sustainable, legal and ethical fisheries sector.”

But they added: “The Commission will not hesitate to take all necessary action if it considers that Thailand is acting as a non-cooperating country in the fight against IUU fishing.” 

The Thai government has been insistent that trade would not be affected by new guidelines, stressing that the EU – with whom it is currently negotiating a free trade agreement – makes up only around six per cent of seafood exports. 

But other countries – including the US, UK, Japan and South Korea – also have or are developing seafood import restrictions designed to screen for and prevent illegal fishing and labour abuses. Almost 60 per cent of Thailand’s exports currently go to such countries.

“If fully implemented, these changes would have huge implications for Thailand’s incredibly important seafood export industry… [and] open the floodgates for illegal fishing and poor working conditions,” said Dominic Thomson, deputy director and Southeast Asia project manager for the Environmental Justice Foundation.

“Our analysis shows that seafood trade to just six countries plus the EU worth $3.3 billion in 2022 would be jeopardised as these markets introduce new trade instruments designed to restrict the flow of IUU or slave-caught seafood into their countries. 

He added that the rollbacks would contradict the international consensus, as countries are increasingly moving towards stricter and better monitored fishing industries.

“Thailand has already done the hard work over the last eight years to build itself up as a market leader in this regard,” he told the Telegraph. “U-turning now would serve to wipe out this hard-won competitive advantage and threaten the survival of the industry itself… We have only a limited window to halt these changes.”

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