Jakarta (ILO News) – Seafood processing industry leaders from Indonesia and Thailand are collaborating to promote good labour practices within the seafood processing sector.
A meeting held in Jakarta on 4 August 2023 gave representatives of the Indonesian industry a chance to hear from Thai counterparts who have made significant progress upgrading their business practices in recent years through the development and implementation of the Seafood Good Labour Practices (GLP) programme.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has worked closely with the Thai seafood industry since 2016, with the support of the European Union. The Seafood GLP programme engages companies to set workplace standards based on Thai labour laws and international standards, provides training workshops on applying the relevant labour standards and develops action plans for advancing decent work in their businesses. Through these activities, Seafood GLP has helped the industry to make progress on protection of fundamental labour rights, including the issues of child labour, forced labour, freedom of association, collective bargaining, discrimination and occupational safety and health.
Convened by the International Labour Organization’s Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia programme, the event brought together representatives from the Thai Tuna Industry Association (TTIA), the Thai Frozen Food Association (TFFA), and the Indonesian Pole and Line and Handline Fishers Association (AP2HI).
“The Thailand-Indonesia consultation meeting on seafood good labour practices has underscored the commitment of the two countries to collaborate and strengthen the seafood industry by ensuring fair labour practices,” said Mi Zhou, Chief Technical Adviser, Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia programme.
One of the highlights of the meeting was the Thai delegation's presentation on their journey towards implementing the Seafood GLP programme. The Thai representatives illustrated how a concerted effort in promoting responsible labour practices can lead to positive outcomes for the industry as a whole.
Attapan Masrungsan, Executive Advisor of TTIA, said: "This meeting is an important step forward for the Thai and Indonesian seafood industries in committing to uphold decent work principles and sets an example for the global seafood community. By fostering cross-border collaboration, we can collectively work towards a more sustainable and responsible seafood sector."
Central to the discussions was the cross-border exchange of knowledge on enhancing labour standards in the seafood processing industry. Representatives of the AP2HI announced that they would leverage the insights and good practices from their Thai counterparts by sharing the learnings with their members.
Expressing his optimism about the results of the meeting, Ilham Alhaq, Technical and Management Support of AP2HI, stated that: "We will communicate and share further what we learned from our Thai colleagues with our members in our annual meeting. We would like to invite the Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia programme to discuss future collaboration on developing a Seafood GLP programme in Indonesia."
Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia is an initiative of the EU and the UN, implemented by the ILO in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the overall objective of promoting regular and safe labour migration and decent work for all migrant workers in the fishing and seafood processing sectors. The programme addresses the characteristics of working in the fishing and seafood processing sectors as well as the barriers and risks present during migration, which can lead to unsafe migration, decent work deficits, abuse and forced labour.
For further information please contact:
Anyamanee Tabtimsri National Programme Coordinator for Thailand, Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia programme Email: [email protected]
Albert Bonasahat National Programme Coordinator for Indonesia, Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia programme Email: [email protected]
Pichit Phromkade Communications Officer, Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Email: [email protected]
