Correspondence
Email sent to the Community Relations team at Costco Wholesale. January 17, 2023: A letter with the same text as the email dated January 10 was sent by certified mail.
The email said: "I’m writing to you in light of our latest investigation, which concerns abuses in the Chinese squid fishing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between companies engaged in abuses and your supply chain.
This link concerns a Chinese squid jigger owned by the Chinese fishery company, Rongcheng Wangdao Ocean Aquatic Products. In a seven-month period, one crew member died and a second was disembarked for emergency medical treatment after suffering serious mistreatment and abuse while on board the vessel. Our reporting documents multiple indicators of forced labor among crew onboard the vessel: recruitment linked to debt, deceptive recruitment, enforced isolation, degrading living conditions, physical violence, wage withholding, the retention of personal identity documents and strong financial penalties for leaving employment.
Costco says its Supplier Code of Conduct is globally applicable to suppliers and any sub-suppliers, and is “derived from the policies, standards, and conventions of the United Nations and the International Labor Organization, as well as other leading independent standards such as the Responsible Business Alliance and Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP).” Costco is also a member of the Responsible Business Alliance's Responsible Labor Initiative (RLI), whose code of conduct applies to the ethical recruitment, employment, and humane treatment of workers.
We have traced squid caught by that vessel to a Chinese fisheries company in Shandong province called Rongcheng Xinhui. Catch transshipped from that vessel was landed at Shidao and transported to Xinhui for processing. Import records show that Lagoon Seafood Products received six shipments of squid from Xinhui in 2021 and 2022. Lagoon Seafood’s Blue Tide brand Squid Rings and Tentacles are listed for sale on Costco Business Centre Canada’s website.
Does Costco Business Centre have any comment or statement to make on the record in response to this information?"
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed Costco Business Centre: "I contacted you earlier this year regarding The Outlaw Ocean Project’s investigation into abuses in the Chinese squid fishing industry, as it related to your supply chain. I am contacting you again in light of new findings made as part of our ongoing reporting on human rights and environmental issues connected with the world’s oceans.
Further to my previous correspondence, we have uncovered a link between a company engaged in the use of Uyghur forced labor in seafood processing and a supplier in your supply chain. Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd., which supplies white fish products to High Liner Foods Inc., has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a state-imposed labor transfer program. 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. The U.S. has prohibited the importation of goods produced from state-imposed forced labor.
Costco Business Centre Canada stocks High Liner white fish products. Does Costco have any comment or statement to make in response to the above information? Please reply to this email by close of business June 27, 2023."
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed two contact addresses at Costco, saying: "Trade records seen by The Outlaw Ocean Project show that, between 2019 and 2022, Premier Marine Canada was the consignee for at least seven shipments of seafood from processors in China that have received people from the Xinjiang region of China under a state imposed labor transfer program. The processors, Rizhao Meijia Aquatic and Rizhao Jiayuan, are both owned by the Meijia Group. The Meijia Group has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a state-imposed labor transfer program since 2019 and until as recently as May 2023. We have uncovered evidence of Uyghur workers in Rizhao Jiayuan in 2019. Trade records also show that Premier Marine Canada was the consignee for seafood from Yantai Sanko Fisheries in 2019, a processor referenced in our previous correspondence with you regarding the use of Uyghur forced labor. According to Premier Marine Canada’s official website, Premier Marine is a private label partner of your company. While we recognize that you may not be aware of this problem, we wish to ask you: Can you confirm or deny if any seafood from Rizhao Meijia Aquatic, Rizhao Jiayuan or Yantai Sanko Fisheries has been used in any products sold by your company since 2019? Does Costco Wholesale have any comment or clarification to make in response to the above information?"