Thailand's fishery development plan gets Cabinet's approval

BANGKOK, April 4 (TNA) - The Thai Cabinet has approved a new fishery development plan as part of the government's ongoing solution to issues related to the illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Thai Government Spokesman Lieutenant General Sansern Kaewkamnerd told journalists that the Cabinet endorsed the new fishery development plan at its weekly meeting at Bangkok's Government House on April 3. The spokesman said the new plan represents an official step forward following progressive moves the Thai government has pursued to address the IUU-related issues, as cautioned by the European Union (EU). The spokesman stated that under the new plan, more measures on preventing IUU-related problems are included, covering those concerning workers, fishing boats, equipment and fishing areas, as well as additional regulations. "Based on the new plan, aimed to upgrade the Thai fishery sector to meet international standards, all Thailand-registered fishing boats are, from now on, required to report their offshore and onshore schedules, as well as their fishing areas and the amounts of inbound catches and outbound shipments to port authorities and other relevant agencies that are working together to regulate to try to put an end to the IUU-related problems", the spokesman explained. "Besides, fishery products of trading partners are now required to pass an official certification prior to the off-loading of their products at Thai ports", the spokesman noted. According to the spokesman, the Thai government will soon send the new requirement form to the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO) for the official acknowledgement of the governments of trading partners, with a two-year timeframe set for getting back letters of the official acknowledgement. The spokesman revealed that the Thai Cabinet also approved the setting up of a new national committee in charge of issuing the certification and ending the causes of IUU-related issues. A team of EU officials will pay a visit to Thailand during April 4-11, 2018 to inspect the country's progress in the solution to the IUU-related issues. (TNA)