Correspondence
Email sent to Bjørn Fladmark, Managing Director of Normarine.
The email said: "I’m contacting you in light of our latest investigation which concerns the use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between companies engaged in such practices and your supply chain.
Normarine has sent fish to be processed at plants run by the Shandong Meijia Group, and one (Rizhao Rirong Aquatic Products) under the Rongsense Group. The Meijia Group and the Rongsense Group have each received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a state-imposed labor transfer program since at least 2019 and 2017, respectively, and as recently as May 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. The U.S. has prohibited the importation of goods produced from state-imposed forced labor.
Does Normarine have any comment or clarification to make regarding the above information? Please respond to this email by close of business on August 1, 2023."