About 600 suppliers were invited. TU management addressing the group included Thiraphong Chansiri, president and chief executive officer, and the company’s global director of sustainable development, Darian McBain.

The presentation included a full explanation of the 12 fundamental principles of TU’s business-ethics and labour code of conduct.

Management stressed the importance of compliance and highlighted that suppliers who did not work to meet the standards established would be unable to continue working with TU.

Afterwards suppliers were invited to sign the code of conduct, signalling their commitment.

Thiraphong said: “I am delighted that so many of our partners signed a pledge to comply with our business-ethics and labour code| of conduct. It is a positive sign that we are all able to move forward together in order to improve|how the Thai seafood industry operates.

“Thai Union’s vision is to be the world’s most trusted seafood leader, and as a company we understand this can only be achieved when business is conducted sustainably and responsibly. We want to ensure that our business partners in our supply chain understand how important these issues are to Thai Union and are fully aware of how best to comply.”

McBain added: “Thai Union’s policy is clear: We do not tolerate human-rights violations and we will continue to work to make sure that the workers in our supply chain can enjoy free and fair employment that respects their rights and dignity.

“Events such as this, which help our suppliers understand they must comply with our code of conduct, is one way we are working to achieve our goals. The code of conduct is an important part of our wider |sustainability strategy, ‘Sea Change’, which aims to deliver real and lasting changes to the way both we and the Thai and global fishing industries operate.”

In the past 18 months, Thai Union has terminated relationships with 16 suppliers because of forced-labour or human-trafficking violations. The company has also reduced the number of vessels it conducts business with from over 2,000 to just 400 to ensure better visibility and control of labour conditions.