Last December, Greenpeace and 23 additional NGOs, trade unions, and businesses sent a letter to the US Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking calling on it to change its practice of excluding distant water fishing (DWF) nations that use forced labor to catch seafood on the high seas from its biennial List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (TVPRA List), declare an official policy of attributing high seas catch to the flag State, and remove all seafood exemptions in its upcoming 2020 report.1
This briefing supplements that letter by providing more information on forced labor in Taiwan’s distant water fishing industry and demonstrating each of the criteria for listing Taiwan-caught tuna in the 2020 TVPRA List are fulfilled. The abuses on Taiwanese vessels will not stop until the US, as one of the largest markets in the world for imported seafood, uses the full range of tools at its disposal, including the TVPRA List, to push the Taiwanese government to make changes to its laws, policies, and practices.
