Correspondence
Email sent to the managing directors of H & F Handelskontor GmbH.
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 a supplier in your supply chain.
H&F Handelskontor GMBH has imported shipments of seafood from a supplier called Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd., based in China. Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a state-imposed labor transfer program since 2019 and until at least 2022.
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. In Germany, the Supply Chain Act, which came into effect in January 2023, obliges companies to conduct due diligence on their supply chains for forced labor.
Does H&F Handelskontor GMBH have any comment or statement to make in response to the above? Please respond to this email by close of business July 18, 2023."