Correspondence
Email to Ahold Delhaize regarding its companies Giant and Food Lion.
The email said: "I contacted you earlier this year regarding The Outlaw Ocean Project’s investigation into abuses in the Chinese fishing and seafood processing industries, as they relate to the supply chains of your brand Albert Heijn. I’m contacting you in light of our latest investigation which concerns the use of forced labor in China’s food processing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between companies engaged in such practices and one of your suppliers - High Liner Foods. Ahold Delhaize brands Giant and Food Lion stock a range of High Liner white fish products in the United States. High Liner has imported shipments of cod, pollock, haddock, yellowfin sole, ocean perch and flounder from Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd., a seafood processor based in China. Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a government labor transfer program since 2019 and until at least April 2023. High Liner has also imported shipments of yellowfin sole from Yantai Longwin Foods Co. Ltd. Yantai Longwin is linked to Yantai Sanko through corporate ownership. Our investigation has also found Uyghurs working at Yantai Longwin, since August 2020 and until as recently as March 2023. The United Nations, human rights organizations and academic experts agree that since 2018, the Chinese government has systematically subjected Xinjiang’s predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities to forced labor across the country via state-sanctioned employment programs which use coercive methods in worker enrollment and obstruct freedom to terminate employment. The U.S. has prohibited the importation of goods produced from state-imposed forced labor. Could you confirm whether white fish sourced from Yantai Sanko or Yantai Longwin has been used in any white fish products supplied by High Liner and sold by either Giant or Food Lion since 2019?"
Sjoerd Berveling, Manager Reputation & Communications for Ahold Delhaize's Global Communications Department replied: "At Ahold Delhaize we are committed to offering high quality products at a good value to our customers. As part of our Health and Sustainability Program, Ahold Delhaize and each of our local brands are also committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations in each of the countries in which we operate, ensuring that the parties that supply Ahold Delhaize brands with goods and services do the same, validating the origin of goods offered for sale by our brands, and maintaining a high standard of business ethics and regard for human rights throughout the supply chain. These Standards of Engagement set minimum standards for suppliers that are designed to ensure that Ahold Delhaize and its brands have visibility into all aspects of their supply chains and meet these objectives. As outlined in our Standards of Engagement, we require social audit reports (including amfori BSCI, SMETA or equivalent) from own-brand suppliers in high-risk countries and those reports cannot have serious non-compliances – what we call deal-breakers - like forced labor. You can read more about our approach to social compliance and what we do when there are deal-breakers in our Human Rights Report. Whenever there are allegations or reports of non-compliance with the Standards of Engagement, the Ahold Delhaize brands follow up on those. For more information about our standards of engagement please visit our website. If you have evidence of human rights violations, including forced labor, that are related to or involve our brands’ suppliers, we ask you to share it with us, and we will promptly investigate and address any findings."
The Outlaw Ocean Project replied: "Unfortunately, we are unable to share any documents or other materials with implicated companies in advance of publication. But I can confirm that our evidence includes state media articles describing government transfers of Xinjiang workers to Yantai Sanko, as well as photographic and video footage showing people from Xinjiang working at both Yantai Sanko and Yantai Longwin as recently as May 2023 and July 2023, respectively. You mention that Ahold Delhaize requires social audit reports from "own-brand suppliers in high-risk countries". Does this apply to High Liner? Do your standards of engagement apply to your second-tier suppliers, specifically the Chinese factories supplying High Liner referred to in our email dated August 23, 2023? Please be advised that our investigation further indicates that social audits, including Sedex Member Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) audits conducted by leading firms at Yantai Sanko Fisheries as well as a number of other Chinese seafood processing plants, have consistently failed to detect Uyghur forced labor over a period of multiple years."
Sjoerd Berveling emailed saying that Ahold Delhaize would not be able to meet the deadline and could they have more time.
Sjoerd Berveling emailed a statement from Ahold Delhaize: "As mentioned in our earlier response, we at Ahold Delhaize and our great local brands consider human rights of great importance and we remain committed to following up on allegations or reports of non-compliance with our Standards of Engagement. Ahold Delhaize’s Standards of Engagement apply to all suppliers, including High Liner and its production locations. However, we only require social audit reports from own-brand suppliers in high-risk countries. High Liner does not supply own-brand products to Food Lion or Giant Food. Based on the information you have shared with us; we have contacted our supplier High Liner requesting an investigation. We understand that you have also contacted the High Liner team and that they have already provided you with a statement as well as their social audit status. We would therefore also like to refer to High Liner's statement on this topic. We would like to emphasize that if you have evidence of human rights violations, including forced labor, that are related to or involve our brands’ suppliers, we ask that you share it with us. We will promptly investigate, address any findings, and take action if needed."
Email sent to the media relations team at Ahold Delhaize, saying: "Since we were last in contact with you, our ongoing investigation has turned up additional findings which we wanted to raise with you, as they relate to Giant’s supply chain.
According to our research, Canadian Fish Exporters supplies pollock under its ‘Buena Ventura’ brand to Giant.
Trade data seen by The Outlaw Ocean Project shows that Canadian Fish Exporters was the consignee for over 100 shipments of pollock from a Chinese company called Donggang Haimeng since 2019. We have uncovered evidence that Donggang Haimeng used North Korean labor after the December 2019 deadline for the repatriation of overseas North Korean workers required under United Nations Security Council sanctions. This evidence shows North Korean labor at Donggang Haimeng’s factory in Liaoning, China, as recently as 2023. Furthermore, under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), passed in 2017, the U.S. prohibits the import of any goods produced by North Korean nationals unless clear and convincing evidence is provided that indicates the materials were not made with forced labor.
While we understand that you may not be aware of the above issues, does Ahold Delhaize have any comment to make in response to this email?"
Sjoerd Berveling, Global Communiations Manager at Ahold Delhaize, emailed to ask for extra time to reply to the query.
Sjoerd Berveling replied for Ahold Delhaize: "Thank you for your email. At Ahold Delhaize and our great local brands we consider human rights of great importance. As part of our commitment to human rights, Ahold Delhaize and each of our local brands are also committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations in each of the countries in which we operate, ensuring that the parties that supply Ahold Delhaize brands with goods and services do the same, validating the origin of goods offered for sale by our brands, and maintaining a high standard of business ethics and regard for human rights throughout the supply chain. These Standards of Engagement set minimum standards for suppliers that are designed to ensure that Ahold Delhaize and its brands have visibility into all aspects of their supply chains and meet these objectives. As outlined in our Standards of Engagement, we require social audit reports (including amfori BSCI, SMETA or equivalent) from own-brand suppliers in high-risk countries and those reports cannot have serious non-compliances – what we call deal-breakers - like forced labor. You can read more about our approach to social compliance and what we do when there are deal-breakers in our Human Rights Report.
Whenever there are allegations or reports of non-compliance with the Standards of Engagement, the Ahold Delhaize brands follow up on those. For more information about our Standards of Engagement please visit our website.
Based on the information you have shared with us; we have contacted Canadian Fish Exporters, one of the suppliers of Ahold Delhaize’s brands for national brand products, not own-brand products. This supplier has not sourced from Donggang Haimeng Foodstuff Co. LTD since the end of December 2021, there are SMETA audit reports on file showing no evidence of forced labor during the period in question, until the end of December 2021.
We would like to emphasize that if you have evidence of human rights violations, including forced labor, that are related to or involve our brands’ suppliers, we ask that you share it with us. We will promptly investigate, address any findings and take action if needed."
The Outlaw Ocean Project replied: "Thank you very much for coming back to us on this, and for following up with your supplier. The most recent shipment consigned to Canadian Fish Exporters from Donggang Haimeng had an arrival date of February 23, 2022, according to the trade records we’ve seen (these trade records are from the ImportGenius database). Would it be possible for you to share those audit reports with us, or confirm who carried them out? Should we uncover any further findings pertaining to your supply chain, we will certainly bring those to your attention. We are unable to share the specific evidential materials relating to Donggang Haimeng at this point, but can say that these include video taken inside the plant this year."
Sjoerd Berveling replied for Ahold Delhaize: "Thank you for your message. These questions are best asked directly to the team at Canadian Fish Exporters."