Thailand | USU: There are no berry pickers from Thailand in Finland – meeting on Friday at the latest

To Finland still haven’t received any berry pickers from Thailand, said News Finn (USU) on Monday. The Thai authorities have not granted exit permits to the pickers who want to go to Finland.

The situation is already very critical for the berries of this harvest season in Finland, says the executive director of the Arctic Flavors association Birgitta Partanen. According to him, the solution must come this week, otherwise it will be too late.

The Thai and Finnish authorities are supposed to discuss the situation remotely on Friday of this week at the latest.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in March that pickers can no longer come to Finland with a tourist visa, but instead need an employee’s residence permit. Companies in the berry industry must therefore hire pickers for employment. The reasons behind the changes are, among other things, serious suspicions of human trafficking.