Correspondence
Email sent to the contact address for Sea Products International Ltd.
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 a company engaged in such practices and a supplier in your supply chain.
Trade records show that Sea Products International imported squid from Rizhao Jiayuan Foods Co. Ltd., a Meijia Group company, in 2022.
The Meijia Group has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a state-imposed labor transfer program since 2019 and until at least 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, and obstruct freedom to leave employment.
Does Sea Products International have any comment or clarification to make regarding the above information? Have any Sea Products International products containing squid processed by Rizhao Jiayuan been supplied to Costco UK? Please let me know by close of business August 11, 2023."