Correspondence
Email sent to Caroline Ponsi Khider, Communications Director at Bureau Veritas, and message sent through the corporate group's contact submission form.
The email said: "My name is Ian Urbina and I’m the director of The Outlaw Ocean Project, a journalism non-profit based in Washington D.C. that publishes stories about human rights and environmental issues connected with the sea. 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 with audits conducted by your organization.
Our investigation has identified 11 Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified seafood processing facilities in China using forced labor from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). We're exchanging with the global customers of these 11 MSC-certified processing plants, and as part of these conversations are learning more about the audits conducted at the sites.
According to our current records, at least one of these plants has undergone a Bureau Veritas social audit: Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-52638). Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period, including within one week of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation. Does Bureau Veritas have any comment to make on this matter?
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 schemes which use coercive methods in worker enrolment and obstruct freedom to terminate employment.
Please find below the full list of the 11 seafood processing plants connected to Uyghur forced labor. Would you kindly confirm whether Bureau Veritas has conducted social audits at any of these sites? Please respond to this email by close of business June 29, 2023. Regards, Ian
Rongcheng Haibo Seafood Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-59738) was certified 28 September 2022. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period, including within two weeks of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation.
Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co. Ltd (MSC-C-57659) was certified 30 August 2022. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period.
Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Foodstuffs Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-52638) was certified 12 December 2022. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period, including within two weeks of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation.
Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-51794) was certified 23 November 2022. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period, including within one week of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation.
Rizhao Meijia Keyuan Foods Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-53370) was certified 13 March 2023. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period, including within two weeks of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation.
Shandong Meijia Group Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-51912) was certified 13 March 2023. The MSC certification was issued after the company is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program.
Rizhao Rirong Aquatic Products And Foods Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-55351) was certified 7 June 2023. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period, including within two weeks of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation.
Rizhao Rongxing Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-53499) was certified 24 May 2023. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period, including within two weeks of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation.
Rongcheng Taiming Foods Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-57091), Rongcheng Huiying Foods Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-57161) and Shandong Lanrun Aquatic Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-57565) were certified 22 October 2022, 18 January 2023 and 15 May 2023, respectively. The MSC certifications were issued after our intelligence indicates the parent companies of the factories are known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program.
The Outlaw Ocean Project re-tipped Caroline Ponsi Khider for a response to the email sent June 27, 2023. That email received an out of office, so the query was sent to alternative contacts at, and for, Bureau Veritas.
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed four contacts at Bureau Veritas to see if the organization had any comment or statement in response to the query sent on June 27, 2023.