Correspondence
Email send to the contact address for E.Leclerc.
The email said: "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 E.Leclerc's suppliers. Our research shows that Cité Marine supplies E.Leclerc with seafood spreads containing white fish for its own-brand Ronde Des Mers range.
Cité Marine has imported large volumes of white fish, specifically, pollock and cod, from Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Foodstuff Co. Ltd. since the Chinese plant is known to have first started using Xinjiang labor in 2018. Our evidence demonstrates the presence of Uyghur workers at Qingdao Tianyuan as recently as May 2023.
Cité Marine has also imported white fish from Qingdao Lian Yang Aquatic Product Co. Ltd., another Chinese seafood processor linked to Qingdao Tianyuan through corporate ownership. Our investigation has found Uyghurs working at Qingdao Lian Yang as recently as 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.
Could you confirm whether white fish sourced from Qingdao Tianyuan or Qingdao Lian Yang has been used in any of the Ronde Des Mers brand products sold by Leclerc since 2018? Does E.Leclerc have any comment or clarification to make regarding the above information? Please respond by close of business September 5, 2023, and note that all interactions are fully on record."
E.Leclerc's press service replied: "In order to exchange on your request, could you call us at this number please : ████ ?
The Outlaw Ocean Project responded: "Unfortunately, we need to do all of these exchanges on record and in writing only."