Pisan expects Thailand to keep US trade privileges

The United States is expected to maintain trade privileges for Thailand despite complaints by a powerful American labour group that Bangkok is not properly safeguarding its workers’ rights, Thai ambassador to Washington Pisan Manawapat said yesterday.

After testifying at the US Trade Representative (USTR) office in Washington on Thursday, Mr Pisan said a Thai delegation from the ministries of Labour and Foreign Affairs responded to a number of questions asked by members of a USTR sub-committee and will submit further information to address their concerns in a post hearing report by Feb 12.

“I believe that the USTR has no intention of withdrawing GSP [Generalised System of Preferences]. It has every intention of wishing to see and support the Thai government’s efforts to succeed in raising and protecting workers’ rights in accordance with the ILO convention,” he said in an email to the Bangkok Post.

“We are doing it not just to protect our interest in GSP which is also in the US’s own interests, but more importantly ... it is the only way to allow Thai products to stand tall and let Thais be proud of their country.”

The US umbrella union group AFL-CIO urged the USTR last October to remove Thailand from the list of eligible beneficiary developing countries for the GSP, which allows duty-free access for some imports.

In its 21-page petition, the group accused Thailand of not taking steps to afford internationally recognised labour standards — namely the right to freedom of association, the right to organise and bargain collectively, the prohibition of any form of forced or compulsory labour, and the right to acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work and occupational safety and health. It said the situation worsened after the 2014 coup.

“The AFL-CIO urges the president ... ‘to withdraw, suspend or limit the application of the duty-free treatment accorded under [the GSP programme]’ unless the Royal Thai Government promptly works to develop a comprehensive work-plan to afford its workers internationally recognised worker rights, both in law and in practice, and, shortly thereafter, demonstrates concrete evidence of substantial implementation.”

In his speech to the USTR sub-committee, Mr Pisan said: “The current Thai government is putting words into actions, especially in strengthening legislation, protecting victims, and going after the criminals in human trafficking, illegal fishing and child labour.”

AFL-CIO Trade & Globalisation policy specialist Celeste Drake said Washington “is not likely to immediately suspend tariff preferences” after the initial hearing on Thursday. But, Bangkok could lose some or all of its tariff benefits if the government still fails to address the problems.

“The best thing the government can do now is to immediately open a dialogue with workers and their unions to develop a plan to improve labour rights laws and enforcement,” Mr Drake wrote in an email to the Bangkok Post.

The AFL-CIO, comprising 56 unions representing 12.5 million American workers, filed previous petitions against Thailand in 1991 and 2013. The USTR accepted the 1991 petition for review and after eight years, and under pressure from the petition, workers in state enterprises were able to form unions once again after a military coup suspended many labour rights and dissolved the State Enterprise Union, the group said. However, due to a lapse in GSP authorisation, USTR was unable to act on the 2013 petition.

An official at the Foreign Trade Department said GSP remains a key element in Thai exports to the US, in which some 3,500 items enjoy an import duty-free status.

Out of US$27.1 billion (985 billion baht) in exports to the US in 2014, $3.5 billion came under GSP benefits.

For the first nine months of 2015, Thailand exported $2.94 billion worth of GSP-benefiting goods, namely air conditioner components, non-alcoholic beverages, rubber gloves, motorcycles, reading lenses and processed food, said an official who declined to be named.

The latest USTR review keeps the trade benefits for Thai products until 2017.

The government is going after the criminals in human trafficking, illegal fishing and child labour.

PISAN MANAWAPAT

THAI AMBASSADOR TO WASHINGTON