Bangkok--7 May--Thai Shrimp Association On May 7, 2008 President of Thai Shrimp Association, Mr. Somsak Paneetatyasai, along with Mr. Aekpoj Yodpinij, Association Secretary and 10 other association directors and members submitted an open letter to American Ambassador Eric G. John seeking justice and support on the misleading news aiming to destroy Thai shrimp industry. Mr. Somsak disclosed that on April 23, 2008, various international news agencies had published articles regarding labor abuses in Asian shrimp industry, namely Thailand and Bangladesh. All the articles quoted report produced by an NGO called The Solidarity Center which is based on selected interviews from a limited number of workers. Some of the news article ask consumers not to buy farmed imported shrimp based on these four reasons: 1) beatings and torture; 2) child labor; 3) sweatshop wages and 4) hazardous working conditions. These accusations are far removed from the truth and definitely have ill-intention to discredit Thai shrimp industry and to shaken consumers confidence in Thai shrimp products. It is well accepted by importers of all countries that Thai shrimp industry is the producer of highest quality shrimp products with food safety integrity. This is because Thailand is the leader in intensive shrimp farming technology that is environmentally friendly. It is well regarded that only Thailand can meet the standard of the most stringent shrimp importing country. Thai shrimp are processed and produced in processing plants with the highest standard on all aspects, unlike the accusations made by the NGO. Importantly, fact #1: all Thai shrimp processing plants (of which there are about 110-120 operators) are export oriented. Major markets for processed shrimp are the United States, the European Union, Japan and others which have stringent standards regarding imported shrimp. They do have strict requirements on factory and periodically conduct audits (either by private importers and/or government agencies) as well as by third party audits. On the other hand, the Division of Marine Products Standard Certification of the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives audits and certifies all shrimp processing plants and shrimp products for export. It is not possible that labor abuses and slavery could happen in facilities with such close supervisions and audits. Fact #2: all shrimp processing plants are registered with approval for construction under the Factory Act B.E. 2535. They are under the supervision and control of the Department of Factory, Ministry of Industry which have regulations on protection and safety of the workplace. Fact #3: all shrimp processing plants must be certified on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) by the Department of Fisheries. In addition, most processing plants have attained other certifications such as ISO 9001 — Quality Management System, International Food Standard (IFS), BRC Global Standard Food, ISO 14001 — Environment Management System, OHASAS/TIS 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety System, Thai Labor Standard, Social Accountability (SA 8000), HALAL, and Aquaculture Council Certification (ACC). Fact #4: Thailand has various laws to protect and regulate labor such as Labor Protection Act B.E. 2541 which protects labor, female and child labor, remuneration, welfare, safety in workplace, social security, etc; The Foreign Employment Act B.E. 2521 No. 39 which stipulates the penalty of employer without permit to hire migrant workers as 3 years imprisonment or maximum fine of Baht 60,000.00 or both fine and imprisonment, and The Immigration Act B.E. 2522 No. 81 which stipulates the penalty of immigrant without permit to stay as 2 years imprisonment or maximum fine of Baht 20,000.00 or both fine and imprisonment. Fact #5: Thai government has closely supervised the issue of labor and has set the daily minimum wage at Baht 144-194 day (depending on the provinces/areas and soon to be adjusted higher). This is considerably higher than neighboring countries such as Vietnam (Baht 75-96/day) and India (Baht 80-100/day). The Thai Shrimp Association, on behalf of our members from the shrimp industry including hatchery, shrimp farming, shrimp processing and exports is submitting an open letter to the US ambassador to seek justice and support for our shrimp industry. Major and influential news agencies such as CNN and Reuters have become a helping hand of the NGO in publicizing one-sided false information and defame reputation of Thai shrimp industry. The Association is hoping that the US government would help to correct the misinformation with the aforementioned NGO and to right the wrong. We would like all parties concerned and the world to know the truth that there is no labor abuses in Thai shrimp processing plants as accused and that the industry does not approve of any ill-treatment of labor, Thais or migrants. Thai shrimp industry is the leader in environmental shrimp farming and producer of highest quality food safety shrimp products with full traceability. “It should be noted that NGOs always attack the labor issue after the Songkran festival and prior to the May 1st Labor Day of each year with the aim to discredit Thailand. The one-sided report of the Solidarity Center is based on old references and interviews which are incorrect,” said Mr. Somsak. He also added “these labor abuse accusations are not yet widely known among shrimp farmers; they are unlikely to sit still as the intention is clearly to discredit Thai shrimp industry which is their livelihood. The Association is also asking relevant government agencies such as The Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to join force and retaliate this injustice.” Somsak Paneetatyasai President Thai Shrimp Association Tel: 089- 830-2448