[1] Thai Union operates worldwide with plant facilities in France, Germany, Ghana, Poland, Portugal, Papua New Guinea, Norway, Seychelles, Scotland, Vietnam, Thailand and the United States.
The revenue contribution of its different businesses as of 2017 are:[3]: 5 The Thai Union was investigated by Greenpeace, which showed a human trafficking report of Tier 3, meaning the company is not completely compliant with the standards.
The "more stringent" new code of conduct allows for higher levels of "accountability and transparency" and showcased Thai Union's commitment to "earn the trust of customers, consumers and the world by operating with integrity and high ethical standards".
[27] The company also claims to have terminated relationships with 17 suppliers as a result of forced labor or human trafficking violations since the start of 2015, and have ended the use of employment brokers to source for workers for its seafood processing plants to stop debt bondage.
[25] In December 2016, the Thai Union and the World Tuna Purse Seine Organization (WTPO) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a framework to ensure fair labor practices.
[30] Andy Hall, a British human rights defender and a migrant worker specialist based in Thailand, said that "Thai Union ... must be commended for belatedly moving seafood primary processing in house.
"[31] In October 2015 Greenpeace accused Thai Union subsidiary John West (UK) of making a "plainly false" claim that customers can trace its tuna back to the vessel that caught it.
[33] Greenpeace has also ranked John West last in sustainability surveys because 98 percent of its tuna was caught using "fish aggregation devices"[34] that kill other marine wildlife.
[37][38][39][40][41][42] In December 2016, eight of the world's largest seafood companies, including the Thai Union, issued a 10-point statement committing to action on ocean stewardship following the first "keystone dialogue" between scientists and business leaders.
[46] In March 2017, Thai Union and the United States Agency for International Development Oceans and Fisheries Partnership (USAID Oceans) announced a partnership to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, promote fair and ethical seafood supply chains, and improve the sustainability of fisheries in the Asia-Pacific region.
[49] In July 2017, Thai Union Group committed to measures that will tackle illegal fishing and overfishing, as well as improve the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of workers throughout the company's supply chains, in an agreement with Greenpeace.
"Consumers are better off without this deal," Bill Baer, assistant attorney general of the US Department of Justice's antitrust division, said...."Our investigation convinced us—and the parties knew or should have known from the get-go — that the market is not functioning competitively today, and further consolidation would only make things worse.
"[53] In September 2017, Thai Union was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) Emerging Markets for the fourth year in a row.