May 24, 2016

Thailand: EU extends yellow card for 6 months

Thailand has been given by the EU Commission another six months to end illegal fishing, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan claimed on Monday, May 23.

"They have not yet upgraded us, but extended (the yellow card status) for another six months. Maintaining the same position is fine, as the problems have been accumulating a for long time," Prawit was quoted by the Thai daily The Nation as saying.

There has been no formal announcement from the European Commission.

On Tuesday, May 24, Thailand retracted its earlier claim, clarifying that the European Union had not yet reached a decision on whether to red-card (ban Thai seafood imports) or yellow-card (warn) Thailand over the issue of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

A statement from the Foreign Ministry said Thailand still has time to work on the IUU issues before the EU makes a decision.

A Thai team went to Brussels last week to discuss Thailand's progress in its fight against IUU fishing. Adisorn Promthep, who replaced allegedly underperforming Wimol Jantrarotai as director-general Department of Fisheries last month, said in a Reuters report that Thailand has instigated new license and monitoring systems for fishing vessels since receiving the EU yellow-card warning in April last year.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha admitted last month that his government had been slow in resolving illegal fishing conditions.