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Combatting unacceptable forms of work in the Thai fishing and seafood industry (Better Fisheries Programme) - Final evaluation

eval_number:

2547

eval_url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/eval/2547

lessons_learned:

themes:

theme:

Labour standards

category:

International Labour Standards

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comments:

The lesson is relevant for the ILO, donors, and tripartite partners in participating countries.

challenges:

See below.

success:

The pressure exerted by the EU was instrumental to the ratification of the P29 Protocol and C188.

context:

N/A

description:

Significant political pressure is needed to effect major legal reforms. In February 2016, with the support of the European Union (EU), the International Labour Organization (ILO) launched a four-year, €4.2 million project titled, Combatting Unacceptable Forms of Work in the Thai Fishing and Seafood Industry (THA/15/03/EUR - 105548).

The project aimed to “prevent and reduce forced labour, child labour and other unacceptable forms of work and progressively eliminate the exploitation of workers, particularly migrant workers, in the Thai fishing and seafood processing sectors.” In this regard, one of the project objectives was to strengthen the applicable legal framework, including the ratification and implementation of the 2014 Protocol to the Forced Labor Convention (P29) and the Work in Fishing Convention (C188.)

At the time the project was designed, Thailand faced the prospect of significant consumer backlash and trade sanctions, particularly in the United States and Europe. A series of reports on poor conditions within the fishing and seafood-processing sector began to appear in 2012. Trafficking issues in the fishing and seafood-processing sector (as well as other sectors) led the US State Department to downgrade Thailand from Tier 2 to Tier 3 status in the Trafficking in Persons Report 2014. On 21 April 2015, the European Commission put Thailand on formal notice (“Yellow Card”) for failing to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, requiring the country to implement corrective measures in order to avoid a ban on exports of fishery products to the EU. While IUU standards do not make explicit mention of employment or working conditions, it was generally understood that the EU expected Thailand to take action on this front as well, including the ratification of the P29 Protocol and C188. The country was initially given six month to comply with stated requirements; however, the deadline was subsequently extended.

administrative_issues:

Design / implementation

url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/lessons/217324

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location:

country:

Thailand

region:

Asia and the Pacific

---

eval_title:

Combatting unacceptable forms of work in the Thai fishing and seafood industry (Better Fisheries Programme) - Final evaluation