March 26, 2025 — Total shrimp imports to the U.S. were up significantly year over year in January, as reported by NOAA, from just over 131 million pounds, or 59,442 metric tons (MT), to nearly 157 million pounds (71,188 MT), an increase of 19.76 percent.
The change was mostly due to a big bump in Indian imports, as well as increases from Vietnam and Thailand.
September 9, 2024 — The Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it had removed shrimp from Thailand from the list of prohibited products linked to forced labor, according to a September 5 notice published in the Federal Register.
The official list, “Prohibition of Acquisition of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor” (E.O. List), was updated after the DOL said it had received proper information from multiple sources that indicated the use of forced labor had dwindled significantly.
June 25, 2024 — The U.S. State Department has released its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, and NGOs are criticizing the choice to maintain the rankings of Taiwan and Thailand.
The TIP report classifies countries into a number of different tiers based on the prevalence of forced labor and human trafficking in their supply chains – with Tier 1 being the best and Tier 3 being the worst. In the latest report, Taiwan maintained its position in Tier 1, and Thailand maintained its position in Tier 2 – a move that Global Labor Justice (GLJ) criticized as overlooking abuses in both countries.
May 14, 2024 — The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is pushing for a revision to a 15-year-old determination that child labor is prevalent in Thailand’s shrimp sector.
Thai shrimp were added to the DOL’s annual “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor” since 2009, which requires importers to go through a series of additional checks to ensure forced or indentured child labor was not employed to produce any shrimp they buy from Thailand.
November 21, 2023 — Thailand has proposed a reversal of a series of fisheries reforms it implemented over the past eight years.
The move has ignited concern among NGOs and international representatives who fear the lawlessness and lack of oversight that once defined the country’s fishing sector may return. In a letter issued in October 2023, a coalition of 84 civil society organizations, including the Environmental Justice Foundation, Greenpeace, Conservation International, Oxfam, and Oceana collectively urged Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to oppose any rollback.
October 26, 2023 — The American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA), an organization representing the interests of U.S. wild-caught warmwater shrimp processing, has filed trade petitions seeking additional antidumping and countervailing duties on imported shrimp.
The trade petitions, which the ASPA said are intended to address unfair dumping and illegal subsidies, consist of a request for antidumping duties on imported frozen warmwater shrimp from Ecuador and Indonesia, and countervailing duties on imported shrimp from Ecuador, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
June 16, 2023 — The U.S. Department of State released its annual Trafficking in Persons Report on 15 June, revealing Taiwan and Thailand retained the rankings they held in previous years, despite calls from environmental and labor organizations for them to be downgraded.
The TIP report classifies countries into multiple tiers – Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watch List, and Tier 3 – based on the prevalence of forced labor and human trafficking in the countries, with a lower number representing a country of lower concern.
June 5, 2023 — The Seafood Working Group is calling for the downgrade of Thailand and Taiwan in the forthcoming 2023 U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.
The Seafood Working group is composed of 28 organizations including the International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF), Greenpeace USA, and the Environmental Justice Foundation that was formed to advocate for effective government policies and industry actions to end labor exploitation, illegal fishing, and overfishing in the global seafood industry.
October 3, 2022 — Taiwan and Thailand both feature prominently on the new edition of a U.S. Department of Labor report on child and forced labor, which identifies abuses in both countries’ seafood sectors.
Released 28 September, 2022, the “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor,” dinged Taiwan and Thailand for alleged use of forced labor in their fishing sectors, while Thailand also received mention for alleged use of child and forced labor in its shrimp-processing industry.
August 1, 2022 — Non-governmental organizations and fishing industry groups have had sharply differing reactions to the latest edition of the U.S. government’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP), which was published 19 July, 2022.
The latest edition of TIP, published annually the U.S. State Department, kept Taiwan at Tier One status while upgrading Thailand and Ireland to Tier Two, despite claims of labor abuse in the fishing industries of all three states. Those rankings dismayed some fisheries-focused NGOs, who said geopolitical considerations are blunting Washington’s ability to curb labor abuses in global fisheries.