Essay: Ethical Issues In Thai Shrimp Industry.

1. i) Thailand shrimp industry and the ethical issues.

ii) Introduction of stakeholders

iii) Identify who are the stakeholders in the industry (as detail as possible) Example: media, government....

Responsibility of the stakeholders

Draw a stakeholder’s map

Discuss all the specific stakeholders and their conflict and (potential) alliances with other stakeholders.

2. Links the ethical issues to micro, meso, and macro levels of economic activity (Example: meso > cut cost, community not strong). Discuss the Micro, meso and macro levels one by one.

3. Government are helping and looking into the matters. (Example: some government is corrupted).

How does International Labour Organization (ILO) help?

Stakeholders in the industry

Shrimp industry is an industry that deals with aquaculture business. This business is about farming of shrimps or prawns from marine or freshwater bodies that are being consumed by the humans. Thailand is the place that is very famous from its shrimp industry. As far as the history of the industry in Thailand is considered, the practice of shrimp farming has been conducted in Thailand since early 1970’s (Crane and Matten, 2016). During that time the practices were conducted with the help of semi intensive shrimp farming techniques but after some time these techniques were replaced by the intensive techniques that were started in 1987. Shrimp farming is very important for the economy of Thailand. However, there are some problems which are being faced by the industry along with the growth (De George, 2011). It is required to set the standards in order to establish the sustainable practices for shrimp farming. It is required to maintain the sustainability in order to maintain the quality and safety in the shrimp industry. “Good Aquaculture Practice” are the practices that are conducted in maintaining shrimp farms and the code of conduct for the same set the standards for the practices to be sustainable. The Thai frozen association is the regulatory authority that regulated the activities of the industry. There are different ethical issues such as food safety and health of the people as well as for marine life is considered in order to make the industry sustainable (Trevino and Nelson, 2016).

There are various stakeholders that are associated with the industry such as suppliers, producers, collectors etc. Stakeholders are the people who are directly or indirectly linked with the industry or get affected by the changes in the industry (Lebel, Garden, Luers, Manuel-Navarrete and Giap,  2016). Some of the major stakeholders of the industry are described in brief:

Suppliers and producers: Suppliers are the stakeholders of the company that focuses on supplying the products (Rossouw, Van Vuuren, Ghani and Adam,  2010). Producers are the one who produces the products in order to sell in the market. In shrimp industry, the producers and the suppliers of the products are usually same such as regulatory of the industry like farm registration, Thai GAP fisheries movement documents feed analysis certification, chemical substances registration AQ insurance, club membership are some of the producers.

Collectors: Collectors are one who set the standards and price for the products and collect the products to sell (Tanticharoen, Flegel, Meerod, Grudloyma and Pisamai, 2008). They conduct all the agreements that are being associated with the buying and selling of the shrimp products.

Stakeholder’s map

Processors: processors are the one who process all the information that has been required to conduct the activities of shrimp to sell and buy (Weiss, 2014). These activities involve the certification, importing, buyer requirements etc. Collectors export the materials or the products through processors or sometimes directly contact the brokers or exporters.

Brokers/sellers/exporters: As the name suggests brokers are the one who acts as the mediators between the buyers and the sellers (Lebel, Mungkung, Gheewala and Lebel, 2010). Sellers are the stakeholders that directly sell the products to the buyers and exporters are the stakeholders that conduct the activities of sale to international consumers.

Domestic and foreign consumers: Consumers are the most important customers for every organization. In case of shrimp industry, the consumers are domestic as well as international. International consumers are the one from different country and the domestic customers are from the same country such as Thailand.

Stakeholder’s map:

                                                                                   

Conflicts:

This industry has faced many issues and conflicts because of the associated safety issues with it. It has been analyzed that imposition of ban in the industry has generated conflicts between the shrimp farmers and the rice farmers (Brimble and Doner, 2007). It also enhances the conflicts within the government as well. It has been identified that investment by new entrepreneurs in this industry is very difficult because of the restricted loan provision to shrimp farmers. This restriction is the result of the increase in the environmental protection awareness and the decline in economic and financial growth of the place (Duska, 2007). Along with all these conflicts, the occupational potential conflicts and tradeoffs are also the reasons that affect the industry and develop conflicts to great extent.

The shrimp farming is the industry that plays very crucial and important roles in framing the economy of the country especially in Thailand (Keithly Jr and Poudel, 2008). This is because the management has been changed and gets affected by the shift in the trade practices and the products techniques.

Meso economics can be defined as the economics that has the concepts that are very different from the micro and the macro one. The micro economic deals with the concept of supply and demand or buying and selling but the meso economic looks for the reasons and the structure on which the supply and demand is based on. There are different areas that are under meso economics such as political economics, institutional economics etc.

Conflicts

Micro economics: Micro economic can be defined as the process or the economics at lower level. This is the concept that is based on the company or the individual level and resolves the issues at the same level (Biao and Kaijin, 2007). This is the approach that can be described as the bottom up approach. This is because the approach looks for the low-level decisions and its impact on the economy. The microeconomic issues in shrimp industry in Thailand discusses about the wages conflicts or the occupational conflicts that has been generated in the industry. It looks for the changes that has been made in the company of the shrimp industry and its effect on the whole industry functioning.

Macroeconomics: as the name suggests this is the concept that looks for bigger picture. It focuses on the activities that affect the whole industry or the economy of the whole country. This means that any change in the environment or the business industry of the country and its impact is considered by the macroeconomics. It focuses on the environmental factors that are associated with the business and its impact on the global economy (Queiroz, Rossi, Meireles. and Coelho, 2013). Some of the factors that are being considered by the macro economics are taxes, world economy, GDP of the country, etc.

Social and ethical issues are always associated with the shrimp industry. This is because this industry is very much related with the health and safety of the people. As far as the case of southern Thailand is considered, it has been analyzed that most of the shrimp industry activities are conducted by the small business people. These business people can be from towns, can be government official; local people etc. All these people work in cooperation with the rice farmers who are local. In the process of short term businesses, these smaller retailers or the businessmen can earn large profits or benefits. However, with the increase in the farming industry and the advancement in the techniques affect the local shrimp industry with negative effects (Uddin, 2009). In addition to it, it also results in increase of other sorts of crime such as accidents, drugs, unwanted forms of entertainment etc.

It has been analyzed that the shrimp industry have faced may criticism but this can be reduced if proper implementation of conflict resolution strategies can be done in order to make the things better. Government plays very important roles in making such efforts. The most efficient institutional arrangement that is required by the government to be conducted is effective enforcement of all the laws related to the industry and clearly defining the rights of the stakeholders to them (Senanan, Tangkrock-Olan, Panutrakul, Barnette, Wongwiwatanawute, Niphonkit and Anderson,  2007). This enables the government to conduct proper planning for the growth of the shrimp industry in Thailand. As far as the government institutions are considered, it has been analyzed that there are around 19 government institutions, 7 private groups and 3 state enterprises that are involved in the activities of developing the shrimp industry. If more specific department is considered, it has been identified that there are different department such as department of fisheries, office of environment policy and planning, waste water control organization and office of national economic and social development board are some of the regulatory for different section of the industry. There are different characteristics that needs to be acquired by the government are:

Micro, meso and macro level of economic activity

Accuracy in data and information: the government and the other agencies should keep in mind that the accuracy in data and information is very crucial to make plans and policies for the sustainability of the shrimp industry practices.

Understanding of administrative structures: it is also very crucial for the government or other institutional bodies to understand the laws and the regulations in order to frame the policies so that effective policies and strategies can be formed.

International forces: This is the major factors that need to be considered by the government. This is because there are many international consumers who buy the products from Thailand shrimp industry.

International labor organization has great involvement in the shrimp industry of Thailand. This is an important part of the industry and it regulates the labor related activities in the industry. It has been analyzed that it is the authority that develop the policies and programs that act as the standards for the industry to hire and maintain the labor of the organizations. It provides many opportunities and voice to the labor, government and the employees to raise it whenever they feel any injustice is happening with them (Flegel, Lightner, Lo, and Owens, 2008). It also helps in maintaining the ethical framework in the process of labor and employment in the shrimp industry. The major aim of the institution is to encourage the right at work, the decent practices at work, social protection of the employees, making the workplace ethical in nature etc. The report of ILO has found that most of the migrant children in Thailand works in the shrimp industry and does not have access to go to schools. This authority focuses on providing those children with the basic education so that they can get the knowledge.

Conclusion:

It has been concluded from the study that shrimp industry of Thailand is the industry that contributes a lot in its economy. This report clearly defines that there are many stakeholders that are associated with the industry of shrimps. Some of the stakeholders are suppliers, customers, producers, collectors etc. The practice of shrimp farming has conducted in Thailand since 1970’s. During that time the practices were conducted with the help of semi intensive shrimp farming techniques but after some time these techniques were replaced by the intensive techniques that were started in 1987. This industry has faced many issues and conflicts because of the associated safety issues with it. The shrimp farming is the industry that plays very crucial and important roles in framing the economy of the country especially in Thailand. This is because the management has been changed and gets affected by the shift in the trade practices and the products techniques. There are three levels of economic activities that are Micro, Meso and Macro. All these levels are associated with different activities that affect the economy of the business. As far as the government institutions are considered, it has been analyzed that there are around 19 government institutions, 7 private groups and 3 state enterprises that are involved in the activities of developing the shrimp industry.  

Reference:

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Brimble, P. and Doner, R.F., 2007. University–industry linkages and economic development: the case of Thailand. World Development, 35(6), pp.1021-1036.

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Tanticharoen, M., Flegel, T.W., Meerod, W., Grudloyma, U. and Pisamai, N., 2008. Aquacultural biotechnology in Thailand: the case of the shrimp industry. International Journal of Biotechnology, 10(6), pp.588-603.

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Uddin, M.T., 2009. Value Chains and Standards in Shrimp Export from Bangladesh and Thailand to Japan: A Comparative Study on Safety Compliances. Asia-Pacific Journal of Rural Development, 19(1).

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