Correspondence
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed: "We previously contacted Coop Italy on August 1, 2023, regarding our investigation into the use of forced labor in China's seafood processing industry. Our ongoing investigation has found further evidence, specifically regarding North Korean workers in Chinese plants.
We have investigators on the ground in China who have been engaging with labor brokers directly involved with the transfer of North Korean workers to factories in China. Through this and other investigative means, including collecting online footage from the plants and interviews with workers recently returned to North Korea from China, we’ve found large numbers of North Korean workers at a range of seafood processing plants in Liaoning province, on China’s border with North Korea, including at a company called Donggang Haimeng. The use of overseas North Korean workers was prohibited by the United Nations Security Council in 2017, with Resolution 2397 setting a deadline of December 2019 for the repatriation of all such workers to North Korea. Under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), passed in 2017, the United States 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.
According to trade records, Riberalves was the consignee for over five shipments of seafood products from Donggang Haimeng since September 2021. Riberalves cod products are listed on Coop’s website in Switzerland. While we understand that you may not be aware of the above issues, we want to ask: 1. Does Coop have any comment to make in response to this email? 2. Can you confirm or deny if Riberalves has supplied any products from Donggang Haimeng to Coop?"
Sina Gebel, Media spokesperson at Coop, replied: "Thank you for your inquiry. Please find our answers to your questions below.
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Does Coop have any comment to make in response to this email? Coop adheres to legal requirements as a matter of principle. We do not tolerate forced labour or poor working conditions in our supply chains. As part of the business partner contracts, our direct suppliers are signing our Guideline on Sustainable Sourcing, which addresses working conditions in the supply chains. Compliance with legal regulations is defined in our contracts and also in our Code of Conduct. There is zero tolerance for violations of labour law. According to Swiss legislation, the company in question is primarily responsible in such cases. We have specified possible sanctions for such cases in our contracts. Compliance with legal regulations and our internal guidelines across all supply chains is of utmost importance for us. This is why we are strongly committed to invest in traceability, in order to track and monitor working conditions and the flow of goods.
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Can you confirm or deny if Riberalves has supplied any products from Donggang Haimeng to Coop? Riberalves has confirmed to us that there are no business relationships with this company."
The Outlaw Ocean Project replied: "Thank you for replying to our query and responding to those questions. The trade records show that Riberalves was the consignee for shipments of seafood from Haimeng in 2021. Did Riberalves clarify to Coop when its business relationship with Haimeng ceased? Can you clarify if Coop received any of the Haimeng seafood from Riberalves? We have emailed Riberalves twice regarding our investigation, but have yet to hear back from them."
Sina Gebel, Media spokesperson at Coop, replied: "Please find our answer to your question here below - Riberalves confirmed that no products from the named producers have been supplied to us during the period of 2021 to 2023, neither in previous years. Please contact the respective supplier and producer directly for any further inquiries on their business operations."