"Forced labour in Asia comes under fresh scrutiny: Will countries and companies pay a price?", 19 October 2020

The US Department of Labour’s 2020 List of Goods Produced by Child Labour or Forced Labour names goods and the countries that produce them, but does not mention companies. Cambodian bricks, Malaysian rubber gloves, and fish from China and Taiwan have been added to the United States’ list of goods produced by child or forced labour.

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How Taiwan plans to respond

[...] Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency told Eco-Business it will take steps to address forced labour on board its fishing vessels.

“While it is understood that (the US’) list does not restrict sales of the included products, the reputation of Taiwan’s fisheries is very much tarnished and customers’ willingness to buy our fish products may be affected,” a Fisheries Agency spokesperson said. [...]

Over 20,000 migrant fishers from countries like Indonesia and the Philippines work on Taiwan’s distant water fishing fleet. For years, groups such as Greenpeace have criticised it for perpetrating modern slavery on the high seas.

In a report earlier this year, Greenpeace found that illegal, unreported and undocumented fishing and alleged forced labour continue to happen aboard Taiwanese vessels operating in the Atlantic Ocean. 

The Fisheries Agency said that besides fully implementing existing rules, it is now drafting amendments to ban convicted human traffickers from obtaining approval to invest in, or operate any foreign-flag fishing vessel. It also wants to revoke any approvals given to convicted human traffickers. [...]

Agency inspectors now conduct interviews with foreign crew members when their vessels arrive at domestic or foreign ports, but the agency will enhance the quality of interviews and interpretation. [...]