Correspondence
Email sent to Thomas Kagerer, Marketing Manager at Kagerer.
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 your supply chain.
Shandong Meijia Group has received persons from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China under the 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 schemes which use coercive methods in worker enrollment.
Shandong Meijia Group’s website says that Kagerer is an international partner of the group. Does Kagerer have any comment or statement to make in light of the above information? Please respond to this email by close of business June 20, 2023."
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed Thomas Kagerer, Marketing Manager at Kagerer, saying: "I emailed you recently regarding our investigation into abuses in China’s seafood processing industry, as they related to your supply chain. I'm contacting you today regarding additional findings and another supply chain connection to Kagerer.
Trade records show that Kagerer has received seafood from Rizhao Rongxing, a Rongsense Group company. The Rongsense Group has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under the state- imposed labor transfer program reference in my previous email to Kagerer (dated June 14), since 2017 and until at least May 2023.
Does Kagerer have any comment or clarification to make in response to this, or my previous, email? Please let me know by close of business on August 7, 2023."