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Thailand takes EU to WTO anti-dumping ‘court’ on canned corn
Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce is preparing to lodge a
complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding an unfair
anti-dumping duty collected by the European Union (EU) on Thai canned sweet
corn, Commerce Minister Krirkkrai Jirapaet said last week.
Speaking to journalists after meeting representatives of the Thai Food
Processors Association last Wednesday, Mr. Krirkkrai said the EU would
announce its final duty rate to be imposed for collection on Thai canned
sweet corn on June 22.
Discussions were held whether it was possible to lodge the complaint with
the WTO as the high EU duty was seen as obstructing exports of sweet corn by
Thailand, he said.
The EU imposed a preliminary 13.2 per cent duty on Thai canned sweet corn on
December 29, forcing most EU importers to temporarily cancel their orders
for Thai canned sweet corn. Purchase orders from EU importers who must front
money as a guarantee on imports of the product are in decline following the
imposition of the anti-dumping duty.
Mr. Krirkkrai said he had ordered the Ministry’s Trade Negotiations
Department to see whether it is possible to discuss the issue at the WTO
session.
Thai sweet corn has captured about 10 per cent of the total market share in
the EU. In 2006, the country exported about 36,000 tons of sweet corn valued
at Bt1.215 billion, down from the 42,000 tons valued at Bt1.345 billion it
earned in 2005. (TNA)
ILO report says 50% of Thai workers work ‘excessive’ hours
Geneva, Switzerland - Nearly a century after
adopting its first international standard on working time, a new study by
the International Labour Office (ILO) estimates that one in five workers
worldwide - over 600 million people - still work over 48 hours a week, often
just to make ends meet.
Among the countries surveyed, Thailand ranks third with 46.7 per cent of
workers putting in more than 48 hours every week.
Globally, Peru topped the list with 50.9 per cent of workers, followed by
the Republic of Korea with 49.5 per cent.
In addition, the minimum legal entitlement for an annual holiday in Thailand
is also among the lowest of the Asian countries included, which at 10 days
or less, is lower than the minimum legal entitlement in Cambodia, Indonesia
and Viet Nam.
The new study, “Working Time Around the World: Trends in working hours, laws
and policies in a global comparative perspective,” says an estimated 22 per
cent of the global workforce, or 614.2 million workers, work “excessively
long” hours.
The study spotlights working time in over 50 countries and for the first
time explores the implications for working time policies in developing and
transition countries. It mainly shows that working hours in developing and
transition countries are highly diverse: some work very long hours, others
work few hours.
Average working hours in manufacturing worldwide range between 35 to 45
hours per week, but are much longer in a number of developing countries,
including Thailand - the only country where the hours of work in
manufacturing average over 59 per week. Thailand is also the only country
where the hours worked in manufacturing are longer than those in the
services sectors.
But in some types of service work employees are also working 50 hours or
more, including transport storage and communication (50 hours a week), real
estate and business actives (50.7), financial intermediation (52.9) and
health and social work (53.4 hrs). Informal employment is another major
source of longer working hours.
Nearly 57 per cent of all self-employed workers in Thailand work over 50
hours per week. Few self-employed people (only one in eight) work less than
35 hours a week.
Almost 80 percent of the Thai self-employed are aged over 41 years old; in
the other Asian countries for which data was available (Indonesia, Pakistan
and Sri Lanka) the majority are in their 30s or younger.
Shorter working hours, the report says, can have positive benefits to
workers’ health and family lives, reduced accidents at the workplace, and
greater productivity and equality between the sexes.
“Progress is being made in regulating normal working hours,” said Jon C.
Messenger of the ILO, who co-directed the study, “but overall the findings
of this study are definitely worrying, especially the prevalence of
excessively long hours.”
Attempts to reduce hours in these countries have been unsuccessful for
various reasons including the need of workers to work long hours simply to
make ends meet and the widespread use of overtime by employers in an effort
to increase output under conditions of low productivity.
The ILO report says that in general, laws and policies on working time have
little influence on actual working hours, especially in terms of maximum
weekly hours, overtime payments and informal employment.
The study suggests reducing long working hours to lessen the risk of
occupational injuries and illnesses, and their associated costs to workers,
employers, and society as a whole; adopting family-friendly working time
measures adapted to national circumstances, such as flexi-time, emergency
family leave, and part-time work and promoting the development of high
quality part-time work. (ILO News/TNA)
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