Correspondence
Email sent to the PR team at Loblaw. The group owns Loblaws Supermarket, Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills and Fortinos.
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 suppliers in your supply chain - Yantai Sanko Fisheries and Rizhao Meijia Aquatic.
High Liner fish products are stocked by Loblaw’s supermarkets, Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills and Fortinos. High Liner sources fish, including haddock fillets, pollock fillets and Pacific cod, from the processor Yantai Sanko Fisheries.
Premier Marine Canada’s seafood mix is stocked by Loblaws, No Frills and Real Canadian Superstore. Premier Marine Canada imports seafood mix from the processor Rizhao Meijia Aquatic, a Meijia Group company.
The Meijia Group and Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. have 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 schemes which use coercive methods in worker enrollment. The U.S. has prohibited the importation of goods produced from state-imposed forced labor.
Does Loblaw’s have any comment to make on the above information? Please let me know by close of business July 19, 2023."
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed Loblaw: "Our investigation continues to surface additional questions in relation to your company’s supply chain, specifically your supplier High Liner Foods.
Loblaws, No Fills and Real Canadian Superstore stock a range of High Liner Foods products containing white fish. High Liner has imported shipments of cod, pollock, haddock, yellowfin sole, ocean perch and flounder from Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd., a seafood processor based in China. Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a government labor transfer program since 2019 and until at least April 2023. High Liner has also imported shipments of yellowfin sole from Yantai Longwin Foods Co. Ltd. Yantai Longwin is linked to Yantai Sanko through corporate ownership. Our investigation has also found Uyghurs working at Yantai Longwin, since August 2020 and until as recently as March 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. The U.S. has prohibited the importation of goods produced from state-imposed forced labor.
Could you confirm whether white fish sourced from Yantai Sanko or Yantai Longwin has been used in any of the High Liner branded white fish sold by Loblaws, No Fills and Real Canadian Superstore since 2019?
Does Loblaws, No Fills and Real Canadian Superstore have any comment or clarification to make regarding the above information? Please let us know by close of business August 30, 2023."
Loblaw's Public Relations Team replied: "We take allegations such as these very seriously. This is confirmation that Loblaw Brands is not currently sourcing High Liner products for any control brand products, however as a current national brand vendor, High Liner is compliant in our program and have signed off on their commitment to upholding our Code of Conduct. Our Supplier Code (attached) focuses on workers’ rights and protections within the supply chain, with a particular emphasis on the importance of protecting their human rights and providing safe working conditions."
The Outlaw Ocean Project replied: "Please could you clarify what you mean by "Loblaw Brands is not currently sourcing High Liner products for any control brand products" and "current national brand vendor"? Thank you for sharing the Loblaw Supplier Code of Conduct. It is not clear to us that the definition of "Related parties" in your code extends to second- and third-tier suppliers. To clarify, we don't have evidence of forced labor at facilities operated by your first-tier supplier High Liner. Our evidence of Xinjiang forced labor relates to Chinese factories supplying High Liner with a variety of seafoods. Please could you confirm whether Loblaw's Supplier Code of Conduct applies to High Liner's suppliers, and outline the steps Loblaw takes to monitor compliance with its Code of Conduct at sites in its extended supply chain?"
Loblaw's Public Relations Team emailed: "To clarify, High Liner is not a supplier of our private label products, often referred to as “control brands”. As a national brand supplier – a vendor who appears within our stores under their own brand – we do not investigate the upstream supply chain. With that said, you will see in the below highlighted sections of our CoC, we clearly outline our expectations of the primary supplier as well as the expectation of those suppliers to manage their upstream supply chain in the same consistent manner.
Our Purpose - Live Life Well We exist to help Canadians ""Life Life Well"". Delivering on this purpose requires that we build trust by conducting our business ethically, honestly and with the utmost integrity. That is why ""Sourcing with Integrity"" is a key component of the way we do business. TO preserve the trust our stakeholders have in us, we count on our network of Suppliers which whom we do business including, vendores, manufacturers, agents and others to commit to and uphold our high standards of integrity, values and operating principles.
We also recognize our responsibility to respect and protect the human rights of our customers, those who work in our network of stores, offices and facilities nationwide, and the many workers, including migrant and temporary that are employed within our wider supply chain. We expect our Suppliers to also uphold human rights within their operations. This Supplier Code of Conduct provides standars on protecting human rights, adhering to applicable employment standards and providing safe working conditions for workers. Check out Loblaw.ca to learn more.
Application and Acceptance The Suuplier Code of Conduct (the "Code"), applies to suppliers, vendors or manufacturers who manufacture, package and/or supply (i) goods and services for resale (GFR); (ii) goods and services not for resale (GNFR); and (iii) agents, brokers and other third-parties (collectively, "Suppliers") who conduct business with Loblaws Inc., its affiliates, subsidiaries, and operating divisions and/or customers (collectively, "Loblaw" or the "Company"). Suppliers must share this Code with their contractors, agents, sub-contractors and sub-agents, including any labour agencies, who are engaged to assist with providing goods or performing services for Loblaw (collectively the "Related Parties"). Any reference to "workers" within this Code means the Supplier's workers and Related Parties' workers.
By entering into any standard terms and conditions or other contractual agreements with the Company (the "Governing Terms"), you are accepting the terms of the Code (as amended from time to time) and affirming compliance with its requirements. The Code is not to be read in lieu of but in addition to your obligations as set out in the Governing Terms.
Expectations The Code outlines Loblaw's expectations and guidelines with respect to responsible sourcing including our commitments to human rights, the environment, health and safety, regulatory compliance, business ethics and the development of a diverse and sustainable supply chain. We expect our Suppliers to communicate these expectations to Related Parties to uphold the commitments set forth in this Code within their own business operations.
The Code sets out minimum standards that Suppliers must meet and nothing in the Code shall prevent Supplires from exceeding these standards. Suppliers are also expected to comply with the Governing Terms and with applicable local laws and regulations. Where such requirements conflict, Suppliers are expected to comply with the highest applicable standard.
Loblaw acknowledges that some Code infringements that are identified may take time to resolve. If appropriate and practicable in the circumstances, we will work with Suppliers to accommodate reasonable time frames that allow Suppliers to make improvements in their operations to correct."
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed the Loblaws Public Relations team: "We’re contacting you regarding further findings of our investigation into human rights and environmental abuses in China’s seafood industry as they relate to your supply chain.
Trade data shows that Rongcheng Puchen Aquatic has sent dozens of shipments of seafood products to Toppits Foods since 2018, including frozen breaded squid rings, breaded calamari rings, frozen squid tubes, frozen crumbed squid rings and tentacles, and frozen calamari bites.
We have evidence of squid catch from a Zhoushan Ningtai Ocean Fisheries vessel that engaged in unregulated fishing activity - the Ning Tai 58 - at Rongcheng Puchen’s processing plant. Another 14 vessels owned by Zhoushan Ningtai are linked to a range of environmental and human rights issues including forced labor, AIS spoofing, shark finning, and unauthorized transhipment. Unauthorized transhipment can undermine supply chain traceability by obfuscating the movement of catch from vessel to processor.
Toppits-branded products including breaded calamari rings and seafood medley containing squid are sold at Fortinos and Loblaws.
Does Loblaws have any comment or clarification to make regarding the above information? Please let us know by close of business on September 21, 2023, noting that all interactions are on the record."
The Loblaw Public Relations team replied: "We take allegations such as these very seriously. We have confirmed that Loblaw Brands does source control brand products from Toppits "Foods. We are currently working with our internal teams to ensure Toppits Foods is compliant and upholding our Code of Conduct. Our Supplier Code focuses on workers’ rights and protections within the supply chain, with a particular emphasis on the importance of protecting their human rights and providing safe working conditions. For more information on this and other matters of supply chain accountability, please visit our website https://www.loblaw.ca/en/supply-chain/. We appreciate you reaching out and would like to hightlight that these conversations take time, and unfortunately we cannot guarantee that we will be able to have further details to share by EOD September 21st.
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed the Loblaw Public Relations team, 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 Loblaw have any comment or clarification to make in response to the above information?"
Loblaws replied: "Thank you for your inquiry. We take allegations such as these very seriously.
Confirming that Premier Marine Canada is an active control brand vendor. We can confirm that this vendor is in compliance with our attached code of conduct.
Our Supplier Code focuses on workers’ rights and protections within the supply chain, with a particular emphasis on the importance of protecting their human rights and providing safe working conditions. For more information on this and other matters of supply chain accountability, please visit our website https://www.loblaw.ca/en/supply-chain/.
We have forwarded this allegation to the appropriate teams internally and should there be any further details we will communicate accordingly."