SUSTAINABLE SOURCING IN

PRACTICE: DECENT WORKING CONDITIONS

ALONG THE SEAFOOD VALUE CHAIN

SUCCESS Project Competitiveness and Sustainable Sourcing in Europe for Fish and Seafood Rome, 18 May 2016

THE ISSUE

-  Emerging concerns for social sustainability in the seafood sector – spotlight on cases of human rights abuses

-  Widespread decent work deficits (poor health and safety conditions, reported cases of child labour, severe cases of abuses, migrant workers vulnerability)

-  Correlation between IUU fishing and severe labour exploitations

-  Poor application/domestication of existing instruments: ILO Core Labour standards, ILO Work in Fishing Convention 188

-  A global value chain with low rate of unionizations of workers

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Decent work is defined as ‘productive work for women and men in condition of freedom, equity, security and human dignity’ (ILO, 2006)

OPPORTUNITIES: WHAT TOOLS ARE THERE?

 - Existing environmental standards and certification schemes take on board labour issues

 - No internationally agreed labour conditions or fair labour practice certifications existing (governance gap)

 - Fisheries and Aquaculture Improvements’ programmes

FairTrade Certified USA in 2015, released V1.0 of a capture fisheries standard that links social and labor considerations in fisheries with environmental sustainability

Seafish Responsible Fishing Scheme focus on crew welfare, and general health and conditions on board fishing vessels Is partnering with Sustainable Fisheries Partnership to draft a tool to rate fisheries with high risk to human rights abuses

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CERTIFICATIONS, SOCIAL AUDITS AND MULTI-ACTOR INITIATIVES

GlobalG.A.P Aquaculture Standard- includes workers’ health.

Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) audits farms for child labour, forced labour, discrimination, excessive working hours, fair wages and other issues.

Good Labour Practices programme – Voluntary industry workplace improvement programme on occupational safety and health. Guidelines developed based on ILO Conventions and national laws.

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CHALLENGES -  The challenges of certifications schemes and social audits. Cannot guarantee that the situation and the practices certified will remain the same. -  Full traceability and transparency of the catch along the seafood value chain (including issues of trans-shipment and mix of traceable and non-traceable fish, difficult audit back to the pond and back to the vessel). -  A wide landscape of options for seafood buyers. -  Increasing costs. Suppliers to pay living wages, comply with social audits and ensure full traceability will result in passing the cost on to consumers.

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CHALLENGES – CON’D.

Lack of an agreed international set of standards or guidelines for social compliance. What to include in social standards and how to measure it ? Outcome standards (wages, working hours, nature of contracts) easier to quantify, if compared to enabling rights (right to bargaining power).

Responsibility of Governments to set and enforce a clear legal framework for suppliers and retailers to operate in. Enforcement of core ILO labour standards.

Issues of double standards at production site. Social audits may be not able to cover the entire value chain (and might not be able to reach the most vulnerable workers in a supply chain) auditors face difficulties in assessing fishers on board fishing vessels.

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POLICY IMPLICATIONS

 - Favour multi-stakeholder and pre-competitive initiatives - the Vigo Dialogue

 - Agreed international set of guidelines/or standards on working conditions for fish workers;

 - Map and assess available tools, best practices to have robust tools available

 - Support governments with the ratification of relevant legal instruments (e.g. C188; see EU social partners’ dialogue)

 - Support FAO member countries to include labour issues in fisheries policies, and application of existing guidelines on safety on board fishing vessels

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RESOURCES

  Seafood and Social Development. Engaging the Seafood Industry in the Social Development of Seafood-Producing Communities in Developing countries.

  http://cmsdevelopment.sustainablefish.org.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/12/04/SFP%20Seafood%20&%20Social%20Dev%20Report%202-2ee125f6.pdf

 UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

  http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf

  International Expert meeting on labour exploitation in the fishing sector in the Atlantic region. Background paper to the International Conference, Oslo 25-26 November http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@declaration/documents/publication/wcms_429048.pdf

 

 Greenpeace Report. Slavery and Labour Abuse in the Fishing sector. Greenpeace guidance for the seafood industry and government.

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/briefings/oceans/2014/Slavery-and-Labour-Abuse-in-the-Fishing-Sector.pdf

 

  Seafood and Sustainability, Influences on buying behavior of seafood purchasers.

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/dk/Documents/risk/Deloitte-CSR-RG.pdf