Search

4.48. In addition, a market study on consumer demand for fair and ethical products was finalised and presented in May 2018. The study focused on selected EU Member States and concluded that sustainable product sourcing has become a top priority for retailers who are increasingly "greening" their supply chains, adopting fair and ethical trade criteria and applying sustainability standards in overwhelming numbers.

5.5. In parallel, the EU will also continue to use its bilateral trade agenda to promote our values on sustainable development with social and environmental standards and sending a signal to the world that we are committed to open, fair and well-regulated markets hereby contributing to the preservation of a rules bases global governance system.

4.30. (...) The Green Box support level increased steadily, averaging about THB 80 billion from 2014 to 2016. (...) the share of payments for relief from natural disasters went up from 0.2% to 2.0%.

4.34. The total marine catch fell from 2 million tonnes in 2007 to 1.4 million tonnes in 2019, probably reflecting the problem of over-fishing and the measures adopted by the Government to control illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. (...)

4.35. The Government has been adopting measures to conserve and rebuild fish stocks by, inter alia: imposing restrictions on mesh sizes in parts of the Gulf of Thailand; prohibiting commercial fishing within 3 km of the shore; and issuing fishing licences annually to existing licence holders eligible for new licences. In addition to fisheries management measures, the Government also closes fishing areas during aquatic animals' ovulation, egg-spawning and larvae-rearing periods. In addition, in 2015, the Government started to control the number of fishing vessels operating in Thai waters, to manage fisheries resources and to address IUU fishing, by maintaining fish stocks at the levels to produce the maximum sustainable yield. (...)

4.42. Since 2015, the Government has taken steps to tackle IUU fishing, and the yellow card was lifted on 8 January 2019. Measures adopted by the Government include: amending the Fisheries Act 2015 in 2017, which allows for strict penalties to deter illegal fishing behaviour. Thailand became a party to the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA), and the UN Fish Stock Agreement (UNFSA), and formulated its National Action Plan to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU Fishing, which is in line with the International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU Fishing (IPOA-IUU) of the FAO; managing and controlling fishing gear, fishing days, and fishing licences (...); developing a monitoring, controlling, and surveillance system to monitor illegal fishing (...); developing a traceability system to prevent the importation of aquatic animals derived from IUU fishing into Thailand.

Table 4.6 Strategies for fisheries management
Strategy; Components
Improve fish production and the capability of fish farmers; Promote an environmentally friendly production system, (...) Develop and transfer knowledge of production to relieve effects of climate change.

Table 4.6 Strategies for fisheries management
Strategy; Components
Improve competitiveness; Ensure fish production meets organic standards

Table 4.6 Strategies for fisheries management
Strategy; Components
Manage aquatic resources to ensure sustainability and biodiversity; Rehabilitate and conserve fisheries resources, Promote community-based aquatic resource management, Monitor and survey fisheries activities to combat IUU fishing, Enhance efficiency of aquatic resource management through research and development and innovations

4.51. (...) Thailand notified to the WTO, under Article XVI:1 of the GATT 1994 and Article 25 of the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, a number of support measures to the fisheries sector, in the form of soft loans or grants (Table 3019). These include mainly programmes to help fishermen and fishing vessel owners affected by the Government's measures to combat IUU fishing.