A group of local and international labor rights experts yesterday called on the government to seize the opportunity to enhance labor rights protections, especially for migrant workers, as a new round of trade talks with the US is set to begin next week.
Taipei and Washington on Friday announced that a new round of in-person negotiations over the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade is to take place from today to Friday in Taipei.
The talks would focus on bilateral cooperation in fields such as labor, environmental protection and agriculture, the two governments said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Speaking in a Taipei seminar, Global Labor Justice legal director Allison Gill said the negations would provide a great opportunity to “boost its [Taiwan’s] international reputation and guarantee the labor rights for all fishers and its distant-water fishing industry.”
Although Taipei has taken steps including updating its fisheries and human rights action plans, to better protect fishers, since 2019, Washington has repeatedly identified Taiwan’s distant-water fishing industry as having a high risk of forced labor.
The US Department of Labor lists fish exported by Taiwan to be produced with child or forced labor. The department in last year’s Trafficking in Persons Report described Taiwan’s distant-water fishing sector as being highly vulnerable to forced labor.
Global Labor Justice conducted its own research and interviews with migrant fishers on Taiwan-flagged vessels, Gill said.
“Overall, what we found is, rather than being an isolated problem caused by a few bad actors, slavery is in fact a widespread problem in the fishing industry, fueled by structural drivers. These require a structural solution,” she said.
Although these exposures create a moment of risk for the nation’s seafood industry, it would also create an opportunity for the government and industry to “implement best practices to protect labor rights and demonstrate their global leadership,” said the US expert, who participated in the Taipei seminar remotely.
Wi-Fi access to all crew on Taiwanese distant-water fishing vessels should be included in the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade, the organization said.
Wi-Fi access is important because it would enable migrant fishers to “exercise their fundamental freedom of association,” Gill said.
“Wi-Fi allows fishers to contact their labor unions, their advocacy organizations, their families, government agencies, and hotlines. It is the only means when they are at sea for them truly to be able to associate with each other,” she said.
“Now is the right time for Taiwan to play a leading role in the global seafood industry by agreeing to mandate Wi-Fi access for all crew on board its distant-water fishing vessels as part of the 21st Century Trade Initiative agreement,” she said.
Meanwhile, labor activist Chou Yu-hsuan (周于萱) in the seminar said that the trade talks would provide a chance for Taiwan to catch up with international laws and standards concerning labor rights.
Aside from including labor protection provisions, local environmental groups also wanted to add clauses on environmental issues, said Chou, the deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Federation of Financial Unions.
Yesterday’s seminar was organized by the Taiwan-US Trade Citizen Watch Alliance, which consists of dozens of local labor rights, environmental and business groups.
The US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade was launched in 2022 under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US on behalf of both governments.
In June last year, the two sides signed the first pact under the initiative, agreeing on customs administration and trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, domestic regulation of services, anti-corruption practices, and matters relating to small and medium-sized enterprises.
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