Labour authorities and business operators are playing down food giant Nestle's report exposing the use of forced labour in its supply chain in Thailand, saying the information is likely to be outdated.
Ananchai Uthaipattanachep, deputy director of the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, said the Nestle report may be based on old data -- before the government intensified its efforts to tackle slavery and human trafficking.
He said Thailand has specific laws to solve labour problems in the fishing industry and to protect workers, regardless of their nationality, against mistreatment by employers.
Employment contracts are reviewed to ensure fair pay, and the working conditions for crew are inspected before fishing trawlers leave ports, he said.
Poj: Don’t jump to conclusions
The Labour Ministry has deployed 316 labour inspectors from various agencies to conduct random inspections at workplaces in 22 coastal provinces and Bangkok, he added.
The report -- which was initiated in December 2014 and conducted by the NGO Verite -- follows a class-action lawsuit filed by pet food buyers in the US who claimed they would not have purchased Nestle's Fancy Feast products if they had known the company had ties to slave labour.
The report investigates the working conditions of Nestle's fish suppliers in Thailand. According to the study, most of the Thailand's seafood workers are migrant workers who are brought in illegally by traffickers and are forced to work in slave-like conditions to catch and process fish for Nestle products.
The report concludes forced labour and other human rights abuses are "endemic" and pose an "urgent challenge to any company sourcing seafood" in Thailand.
"Nestle is committed to eliminating forced labour in our seafood supply chain in Thailand," executive vice president of operations Magdi Batato said in a statement.
The report says the labourers come from Thailand's much poorer neighbours Myanmar and Cambodia. Brokers illegally charge them fees to get jobs, trapping them into working on fishing vessels and at ports, mills and seafood farms in Thailand to pay back more money than they can ever earn.
Mr Ananchai said the Nestle report shows that everyone, including food producers, are taking the labour issue seriously. "This will encourage business operators to toe the line," he said.
Poj Aramwattananont, president of the Thai Frozen Foods Association, expressed concern about the report findings, urging business operators to scrutinise the information instead of jumping to conclusions over allegations of forced or slave labour.
The Nestle report is the product of NGO complaints in 2014 about the working conditions of seafood workers, he said, adding that Thai business operators in the supply chain are ready for -- and open to -- scrutiny.
"Both the government and business operators have been working together to address the labour problems and make them priority issues," Mr Poj said. He also pointed out that the fishing industry has now come under new and stricter rules with severe punishments for violators.
Pornsil Patchrintanakul, adviser to the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said the Nestle report is the company's attempt to address questions raised by NGOs and consumers over its pet food products.
Meanwhile, government spokesman Maj Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd said labour problems in the seafood sector have built up for years and it will take time to clear them up.
He advised Nestle to report its findings about the mistreatment of seafood workers directly to authorities so appropriate action can be taken. Labour officials, police and naval officers in 22 coastal provinces can all be contacted, he said.
According to Maj Gen Sansern, the government and the National Council for Peace and Order have intensified efforts to eradicate illegal fishing and related problems of human trafficking and labour abuse.
"But the problems have built up for a long time, and to make them go away will take time. Other countries have similar problems. So cooperation is key. If you have information, you should report it to authorities. Some [operators] might have slipped," he said.
On Wednesday, the national committee on tackling human trafficking, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Adm Narong Pipatanasai, endorsed a plan to manage migrant workers and human trafficking problems in 2016. The plan comprises six approaches and 69 projects with a 1.12-billion-baht budget.
The committee also approved a series of strategies to boost efforts to address slavery and labour issues, including a training course for state officials based on the Anti-Human Trafficking Act.