UN Special Rapporteur Report on Trafficking in Persons | Investor Snapshot: Forced Labor in the Construction Sector | Engineering and Construction Companies Release Guidance Notes for Worker Welfare | Better Labor Inspections in Thai Fishing Sector
Verité conducted desk and field research to map out how jobseekers in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Lao PDR learn about jobs in Thailand, weigh risk factors and choose among the routes open to them. Through interviews with people on or connected with this journey, a picture emerged of a highly complex arena in which the needs of jobseekers, job-finders, employers, regulators, facilitators, and profiteers meet.
On the heels of the news of Verité’s assessment with Nestle’s Thai Shrimp supply chain, a new AP investigative report has discovered child labor and human slavery in several other global seafood supply chains. In the report, AP tracked shrimp from different sites in Thailand which then made its way to some of the largest retailers and restaurant brands in the world. To discuss this major new report, Verité CEO Dan Viederman was interviewed by CBC about how and why this occurs as well as examples of how consumers and companies can take steps to gain greater knowledge and help alleviate these issues.
Nestlé contracted Verité to conduct a three-month assessment of its shrimp supply chain in Thailand. The report, which Nestlé has made public, identified forced labor and other human rights abuses endemic to the sector. Nestlé has also released its Action Plan to address these issues.
The Thai seafood sector remains in the crosshairs of consumer, media, regulatory, NGO and brand attention. On the pressure side, the European Union has issued Thailand a yellow card or threat of a trade ban if it doesn’t crack down on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The US State and Labor departments have released reports harshly critical of labor abuses, including labor trafficking risks. The Guardian, Associated Press and New York Times, among others, have published a devastating series of stories describing modern day slavery among Burmese and Cambodian migrants sold to or held by Thai fishing boat captains. Consumers have filed lawsuits against Mars, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé SA and Costco Wholesale for selling slavery-tainted seafood products (farmed shrimp and pet food).