Spanish canned seafood group welcomes EU-Thai rift

The European Union decided to reconsider its engagement with Thailand at the end of June, a move welcomed by Spain’s canned seafood industry as a victory for human rights.

Official visits to and from Thailand have been suspended, and the EU and its member States will not sign the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Thailand until a democratically-elected government is in place.

The Spanish tuna canned sector has been vigilant for a long time regarding this issue. Juan Manuel Vieites, General Secretary of the National Association of Manufacturers of Canned Fish and Shellfish (Anfaco-Cecopesca) and President of Eurothon, told SeafoodSource "[The EU move] is good news, because it is in line with that everyone has to comply with regulations and that human rights are the first and principal one."

Vieites pointed out the U.S. State Department decided to downgrade Thailand to Tier 3 in its annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) this year.

“NGOs from different countries all over the world checked that the human rights are not fulfilled, and the International Labor Organization (ILO) said also the same,” he said. “We don’t want any kind of protectionism. We want to play in the same playground with the fulfillment of all the regulations.”

When asked if the association is afraid that this could be a temporary decision and that in a future Thailand could resume negotiations again, Vieites said the European Parliament had already made an own-initiative report four months ago where they announced that the negotiation of the commercial agreement to the canned tuna was going to be exonerated. "When a relation of this kind that was taking place in a fluid way with specific rounds of negotiation is suspended, the European Commission takes a lot to come back," he said.

In spite of being soothing news for the sector, the Spanish tuna sector will always keep alert, owing to the existence of other agreements as the SPG+ with the Philippines, for example.

Despite the opposition of the Spanish tuna sector to the commercial agreement with Thailand, Vieites said personal relations with the Thai industry are very good and makes it clear that "if they want to compete for globalized market they have to adapt." Furthermore, he indicated that their mentality and culture is different from ours and they have alternative markets, and because of it, they will have to look for their own suitable strategies.

Keep checking SeafoodSource for all the latest news on the Thailand human trafficking issue

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