NEWLY released Trade in Services Agreement (Tisa) documents show the treaty is “a continuing threat to sea­farers’ wages and conditions,” the International Transport ­Workers Federation (ITF) said yesterday.

“The latest release confirms the hazards identified when (the ITF) predicted a power-grab by transport industry players at the expense of the public interest, jobs and a voice for workers,” it warned.

An annex in Tisa provisions fails to recognise that standards established by the UN International Maritime Organisation and the International Labour Organisation “set minimum protections” for seafarers.

“This questions seafarers’ conditions everywhere,” said ITF president Paddy Crumlin.

“The ILO minimum wage standard is intended as a safety net, not an absolute.

“What will happen to safety provisions, pay or qualifications which are better than the minimum?”

General secretary Stephen Cotton added: “The best employers are taking best practice into their company cultures and moving away from so-called compliance culture.

“This text is a potentially dangerous move in the opposite direction.”