Elements with tag forced labour
The new joint project of the European social partners for sea fisheries (Europêche and ETF) has kicked off today in Amsterdam. Following a selection process, Europêche and ETF will count with the participation of specialists to develop a wide range of studies for a safer, healthier and more worker-friendly fisheries sector in Europe and worldwide. The action will focus on trade measures to combat forced labour, develop guidelines on recruitment of migrant fishers, develop a training programme for medical examination of fishers and update a mobile app to facilitate communication on fishing vessels (FisherySpeak).
On the occasion of the World Fisheries Day, the FAO and the Holy See joined forces once again to host a successful event focusing international attention on the fair treatment and well-being of fishers around the globe. Europêche, on behalf of the EU fishing industry, participated together with international organizations, government representatives, trade unions and relevant stakeholders in this year’s event titled ‘Labour rights are human rights: working together to ensure the rights of fishers – fighting trafficking and forced labour in the fishing sector’. United Nations specialized agencies in fisheries and their Member states were urged to work together to promote the ratification, implementation and enforcement of internationally agreed social standards to support the livelihoods of 38 million fishers in the planet.
Approximately 27.6 million people are enduring forced labor conditions across numerous industries and on every continent. In order to tackle this problem, the EU has reached a provisional deal on a Regulation prohibiting products made in violation of human and workers' rights on the EU market, including seafood. The political agreement brings about substantial modifications to the initial proposal, clarifying the roles of both the Commission and national competent authorities in the investigative and decision-making procedures. Europêche welcomes this institutional agreement and calls for a quick implementation of the system to effectively ban the trade of fish products deriving from forced labour, hand in hand with EU policies against illegal fishing (IUU).