Correspondence
Email sent to the press office of the Interior Ministry of France.
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 a company engaged in such practices and Sysco France's supply chain.
Cité Marine, a supplier of processed Alaska pollock and Atlantic cod products to Sysco France, sources from a company called Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Products. Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Products has received persons from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China under the state-imposed labor transfer program. Sysco France is a supplier of frozen fish to dozens of local authorities in France, according to the EU tenders database.
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 enrollment. The U.S. has prohibited the importation of goods produced from state-imposed forced labor.
Does the Ministry of the Interior have any comment or statement to make in light of the above information? Please let me know by close of business, July 21, 2023."
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed: "I’m checking back on this to see if the Ministry has any comment or clarification to make in response to my email dated July 19. Please let me know by close of business today."