Correspondence
Email sent to Makro's communications team.
The email said: "I’m contacting you in light of our latest investigation which concerns abuses in the Chinese squid fishing and seafood processing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between companies engaged in such practices and your supply chain - Shandong Haidu.
Peixos Mes Fred SL has imported cod from Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co. Ltd. Shandong Haidu is a Chishan Group company. Fishing vessels owned by the group have been observed fishing in North Korean waters in contravention of UN sanctions and fishing illegally in Indonesian waters. The group also owns at least two reefer vessels which have transshipped with dozens of fishing ships tied to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing as well as human rights abuses.
Since 2021, Shandong Haidu has 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 programs which use coercive methods in worker enrollment, and obstruct freedom to leave employment.
Peixos Mes Fred SL has supplied cod to Makro. Does Makro have any comment or clarification to make regarding the above information? Please let me know by close of business August 3, 2023."