Labour of love: Thailand scrambles to clean up its fishy business

The Labour Ministry of Thailand is racing against the clock to scrub fishmeal, fish oil, and animal feed off the notorious US 2024 List of Goods Produced by Child Labour or Forced Labour. The urgency comes straight from the top, with Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn cracking the whip for swift action to safeguard Thailand’s international reputation.

As Labour Ministry spokesperson Phumiphat Mueanchan reveals, this dreaded blacklist falls under the US Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005, also known as the TVPRA List. But that’s not all!

Thai products are also splashed across the List of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labour under Executive Order 13126, famously dubbed the EO List. The US Department of Labor’s freshly minted 2024 lists have painted a scarlet letter on Thailand, singling out fishmeal, animal feed, and fish oil.

Not content to sit idly by, the Labour Ministry is assembling a powerhouse task force, roping in private sector heavyweights from the Thai Tuna Industry Association and the Thai Pet Food Trade Association. Their mission? To thrash out a killer strategy to cleanse these fishy goods from the shameful lists once and for all.

Phumiphat emphasises that the minister is all ears to the private sector’s jitters over the export fallout—after all, Thailand’s fishery and pet food shipments to the US rake in over a whopping US$1 billion (roughly 33 billion baht) every year.

The stakes are high, with five Thai products still languishing on the TVPRA List—shrimp, fish, sugarcane, garments, and pornography. Meanwhile, garments linger as the only Thai entry on the EO List. But fear not, the labour minister is launching a full-scale probe and clean-up operation.

Thailand has been diligently weeding out child and forced labour from its production lines, scoring a victory by banishing shrimp from both blacklists. Phumiphat also reveals that efforts are underway to pluck sugarcane off the list, thanks to a shift to mechanical harvesting.

“We’re relentlessly inspecting workplaces and championing stellar labour practices to clear all Thai products from the US lists.”