Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha conceded on Thursday that the government had been slow to resolve illegal fishing conditions criticised by the European Union, which will extend its “yellow card” sanctions on the country’s seafood exports.
Gen Prayut said at Government House that the Fisheries Department has been slow in tackling the problems of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, which resulted in the department's director-general being removed.
The transfer, the premier said, was aimed at improving efficiency and if Wimol Jantrarotai's successor also performs poorly, he too will be replaced.
Gen Prayut on Wednesday invoked Section 44 of the interim constitution to transfer Mr Wimol to special inspector-general attached to the Prime Minister's Office a day before EU officials told The Associated Press they planned to maintain their threat of a seafood import ban on Thailand because the nation still is not doing enough to improve its fisheries and labour practices.
Unnamed EU officials said Thailand had not sufficiently followed up on its IUU complaints over the past months. They said that slavery and labour issues also were a worry and that the EU had received less evidence of reform from the government while third countries and NGOs reported more evidence of illegal practices and lack of enforcement.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha speaks to reporters at Government House on Thursday. (Photo by Thiti Wannamontha)
In response, Gen Prayut said Thursday he had ordered changes to the practices of the Command Centre for Combating Illegal Fishing to improve efficiency.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said the EU told the government that Thai fishing solutions have not yet met its requirements and the government told the EU that it was trying to make that happen.
Virachai Plasai, the Thai ambassador to the United Nations, reportedly warned that the EU could slap Thailand with a "red card", or total ban on seafood products. But Gen Prawit said he had not seen a report from the ambassador yet, although he understood the EU felt the country was not in compliance.
He added that the agriculture minister had proposed the replacement of the fisheries chief because of slow progress.
