According to a statement from The US National Fisheries Institute (NFI), in testimony during a public hearing at the US Department of Labor yesterday, the AFL-CIO backed Solidarity Center again voiced accusations of ongoing abuses in the Thai and Bangladesh shrimp industry, without providing specifics.
The Department of Labor held the hearing because it is required by US law to develop a list of imported goods that are suspected of being produced by child and forced labour.
Reached in Thailand where he is touring shrimp operations, meeting with officials from the US Embassy, members of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Thai Ministry of Labor, NFI President John Connelly said, “The seafood community takes these accusations seriously and we are working hard to find out if they have merit. But without specifics from those making the accusations our efforts are being needlessly frustrated.”
The Solidarity Center claims it is withholding detailed information that supports its allegations because it does not, “want to release information that could be used by US retailers or importers to abandon particular plants."
“This is a disappointing development,” said NFI’s Director of International Affairs Stetson Tinkham who was at yesterday's hearing. “If these allegations are true the seafood community is uniquely positioned to affect change. But simply repeating allegations without backing them up with specifics does little to solve the alleged problems and instead erodes the credibility of the claims.”
