The Fisheries Agency yesterday said it has made great strides in improving conditions for foreign fishers over the past two years, after the US Department of Labor on the previous day included Taiwan’s seafood exports on its List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor for the third time.
The agency said that over the past two years, the “Action Plan for Fisheries and Human Rights” has improved the situation for foreign fishers.
The list is a public document put together by the US Bureau of International Labor Affairs to raise public awareness around labor issues and promote efforts to reduce them.
.Photo courtesy of Greenpeace Taiwan
This is the Taiwanese fishing industry’s third inclusion on the list.
The action plan was passed two years ago to improve labor and living conditions for foreign members of fishing crews.
The plan calls for raising the minimum wage, more reasonable working hours and schedules, higher insurance payouts, better ship hygiene and surveillance, and direct payments between employers and their crews, among other reforms.
The agency said it has hired 60 more inspectors and monitors more than half of the offshore vessels in domestic and foreign ports.
In the first half of this year, 98 percent of foreign crew members were paid in accordance with labor laws, the agency said.
In February, the agency hosted US labor department officials to demonstrate how the human rights situation has improved and met with relevant authorities, industry experts and civil groups.
The US officials indicated that Taiwan’s exclusion from the list would require multiple independent sources and objective information, the agency said.
The agency said it would continue to implement the action plan, and called on the industry to improve working conditions, protect the rights of fishers and fulfill their social responsibilities.
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