Correspondence
Email to the contact address for Seafood Connection.
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 your supply chain.
Seafood Connection’s suppliers Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co. Ltd. and Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. have 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 programs which use coercive methods in worker enrollment, and obstruct freedom to leave employment. The U.S. has prohibited the importation of goods produced from state-imposed forced labor.
Does Seafood Connection have any comment to make in response to the above information? Please reply to this email by close of business on June 27, 2023."
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed: "I emailed you last month regarding the findings of our investigation into abuses in the Chinese squid fishing and seafood processing industry, and I’m contacting you again today to raise further findings with you.
Trade data shows that Seafood Connection has been consigned shipments of seafood from the suppliers Rizhao Meijia Keyuan Foodstuff, Rizhao Rirong Aquatic Food and Rizhao Rongxing.
Rizhao Meijia is a Meijia Group company, while Rizhao Rirong and Rizhao Ronxing are Rongsense Group companies. The Meijia Group and the Rongsense Group have received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under the state-imposed labor transfer program referenced in my last email, since 2019 and 2017 respectively and as recently as May 2023.
In addition, trade data also shows shipments of seafood from Rongcheng Guangrun and Zhejiang Industrial Group, consigned to Seafood Connection.
Rongcheng Guangrun Aquatic Food is owned by Shandong Bodelong Group. Bodelong Group vessels have fished illegally in the South Atlantic and the South Pacific Oceans, and have disembarked at least two dead deckhands in the Port of Montevideo, in 2016 and 2019. One vessel also disembarked an ill deckhand in Montevideo in 2020 who had symptoms of beriberi, a sign of severe neglect.
Separately, our research has found that two vessels owned by a company under Zhejiang Industrial Group’s majority owner, Zhejiang Shengda Ocean Co., Ltd. (浙江盛达海洋股份有限公司), have a history of disabling their vessel tracking, and we have also authenticated footage showing a Zhejiang Industrial Group worker unloading squid for the plant from a vessel on which an Indonesian worker died.
Does Seafood Connection have any comment or clarification to make in response to any of the above information, or to my previous email (dated June 23, 2023)? Could you please let us know by close of business on August 7, 2023?"
Jozua Koffeman, UM Supply Chain and CSR Officer at Seafood Connection, provided a statement to The Outlaw Ocean Project's Dutch publishing partner, RTL. A summary of the email in English:
Seafood Connection will not tolerate any infringement of human rights in its supply chains. Seafood Connection has set itself the goal, together with the sector association, to work with its suppliers to prevent human rights violations, including forced labor. We therefore require all suppliers to sign an Ethical Trade Agreement, based on the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code. All suppliers of products that Seafood Connection supplis to Western European supermarkets have also been audited by an independent third party according to the social standards of SMETA, BSCI or SA8000. The company was disappointed to hear that forced labor as described by The Outlaw Ocean Project still occurs to this day in countries such as China and sympathizes with the victims of these practices. It also appreciates the work of activist groups such as The Outlaw Ocean Project to expose these types of abuses. Seafood Connection strongly condemns sanctions violations, abuse and forced labor. The company has not seen any previous indications of the human rights violations mentioned by The Outlaw Ocean Project among its suppliers. It has immediately terminated the relationship with and deliveries from Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co., LTD and Zhejiang Industrial Group following this information. The other companies mentioned have not had a relationship with Seafood Connection for 1.5 to 2 years. The company said it was disappointed that its measures have not been sufficient to detect these human rights violations. For example, for Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co., LTD, it did the following research: Independent social compliance audits by third parties: 'Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audits' (SMETA) in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, which found that no evidence of forced labor was found at the said company. Additional physical visits and checks by our Seafood Connection's employees, during which we found no suspicion of human rights violations. Check of vessels listed on catch certificates for an entry in the European Union database of vessels associated with illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, where it found nothing. Seafood Connection said it will never do business with companies that use raw materials in products intended for Seafood Connection that pose the potential for human rights violations, and has taken extra care to investigate all deliveries within 2021 to date from Asia for any possible relationships with the companies mentioned. In addition, even more stringent due diligence and risk assessments for all ESG risks, including forced labor, will be conducted for all deliveries to ensure that Seafood Connection's supply chain is without doubt free of forced labor.
The email in its original language said: "Hartelijk dank voor uw email, waarin u ons op de hoogte stelt dat het onderzoek van The Outlaw Ocean Project (TOOP) heeft geresulteerd in bevindingen van misstanden bij Chinese bedrijven.
Uit eerdere berichtgeving van TOOP, die in sectorvakbladen is gepubliceerd, konden wij concluderen dat er mensenrechtenschendingen op het vissersschip Zhen Fa 7 hebben plaatsgevonden. Naar aanleiding van dit nieuws hebben wij vast kunnen stellen dat Seafood Connection geen product heeft ontvangen van dit vissersschip.
Seafood Connection tolereert geen enkele inbreuk op mensenrechten in haar toeleveringsketens. Seafood Connection zich ten doel heeft gesteld, samen met de sectorvereniging, om met haar toeleveranciers samen te werken om schendingen van de mensenrechten, inclusief dwangarbeid, te voorkomen. Hierom eisen we van alle leveranciers dat een Ethical Trade Agreement ondertekent wordt, gebaseerd op de Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code. Tevens zijn alle leveranciers van producten die wij aan West-Europese supermarkten leveren, geauditeerd door een onafhankelijke derde partij, naar de sociale standaarden van SMETA, BSCI of SA8000.
Het stelt ons teleur om te horen dat dwangarbeid zoals The Outlaw Ocean Project beschrijft tot op de dag van vandaag nog steeds voorkomt in landen als China en leven mee met de slachtoffers van deze praktijken. Wij waarderen de werkzaamheden van actiegroepen zoals The Outlaw Ocean Project om dit soort misstanden aan het licht te brengen. Seafood Connection veroordeelt met klem schendingen van sancties, misbruik en dwangarbeid.
Wij hebben bij onze leveranciers geen eerdere indicaties gezien van de door The Outlaw Ocean Project genoemde mensenrechtenschendingen. Wij hebben de relatie met en de leveringen van Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co., LTD en Zhejiang Industrial Group naar aanleiding van deze informatie per direct stopgezet. De overige genoemde bedrijven hebben al 1,5 tot 2 jaar geen relatie meer met Seafood Connection.
Wij zijn teleurgesteld dat onze maatregelen niet voldoende zijn geweest om deze mensenrechtenschendingen op te sporen. Bijvoorbeeld voor Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co., LTD hebben we het volgende onderzoek gedaan:
- Onafhankelijke social compliance audits door derden: ‘Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audits’ (SMETA) in 2020, 2021, 2022 en 2023, waarin wordt vastgesteld dat er geen bewijs is gevonden van dwangarbeid bij het genoemde bedrijf.
- Extra fysieke bezoeken en controles door onze eigen medewerkers, waarbij we geen vermoeden van mensenrechtenschendingen hebben geconstateerd.
- Controle van schepen vermeld op vangstcertificaten op een vermelding in de database van de Europese Unie van schepen in verband gebracht met illegale, ongemelde en ongereglementeerde (IUU) visserij, waar we niets gevonden hebben.
Wij zullen nooit zaken doen met bedrijven die grondstoffen gebruiken in producten die bestemd zijn voor Seafood Connection, waarbij de mogelijkheid bestaat op mensenrechtenschendingen. We hebben extra zorg besteed aan het onderzoeken van alle leveringen binnen 2021 tot nu vanuit Azië op eventuele relaties met de genoemde bedrijven. Bovendien zullen voor alle leveringen nog strengere due diligence-en risicobeoordelingen voor alle ESG-risico's, inclusief dwangarbeid, worden uitgevoerd om ervoor te zorgen dat de toeleveringsketen van Seafood Connection zonder twijfel vrij is van dwangarbeid.
Zoals gezegd tolereert Seafood Connection geen enkele schending van mensenrechten, noch enige poging om een dergelijke schending te verdoezelen door leveranciers. Daarom steunt Seafood Connection ook de aanstaande Europese verordening over het verbieden van producten die met dwangarbeid zijn gemaakt op de Europese markt, om alle bedrijven te verplichten op te treden tegen elke mensenrechtenschending, met machtige instellingen als de Europese Unie als ondersteuning. Via onze sectorvereniging zullen wij er bovendien bij de Europese Unie op aandringen om een lijst op te stellen en te publiceren van vissersvaartuigen en bedrijven buiten de Unie die betrokken zijn bij mensenrechtenschendingen, zodat alle importeurs van visproducten deze praktijken uit kunnen sluiten.
Ik hoop u hiermee voldoende te hebben geïnformeerd. Mochten er verdere vragen zijn, laat het ons gerust weten.
Namens de directie van Seafood Connection."