Correspondence
Email sent to SGS media team and general inquiries addresses.
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 with accreditations issued by your organization.
Our investigation has identified a number of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified seafood processing facilities in China using forced labor from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). SGS Nederland BV is the accreditor listed in the MSC Supplier Directory for the processing plant Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co. Ltd., and your website states you undertake social audits using three of the four auditable standards recognized by the MSC, according to its October 2022 Labour Eligibility Requirements.
MSC accreditation was issued to Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co. Ltd. after it was known to have accepted Uyghurs though Chinese government labor transfer programs, and our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period.
Additionally, SGS Nederland BV is the accreditor listed in the MSC Supplier Directory for a processing plant operated by the Xinfa Group, Shandong Lanrun Aquatic Products Co. Ltd. Our investigation has surfaced evidence indicating that the Xinfa Group has participated in the Chinese government's XUAR 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 enrolment and obstruct freedom to terminate employment.
Does SGS have any comment to make in light of the above information? Please respond to this email by close of business June 26, 2023."
Magali Dauwalder, Global Head of Corporate Affairs at SGS, replied: "We acknowledge receipt of your mail and query. Could you please let us know on which channels, when and what do you plan to publish as an article? Thank you for some more details about the context of your query that you can provide."
The Outlaw Ocean Project replied: "Our work will be published in The New Yorker magazine, as well as a dozen other outlets around the world. I can't confirm specific publication dates for each, but we do need to have final comments from SGS by close of business on Monday (June 26)."
Magali Dauwalder, Global Head of Corporate Affairs at SGS, replied: "The audit SGS carried out was a traceability audit. This audit is not a social audit. It doesn’t cover working conditions.
The scope of a traceability audit is to ensure that seafood products that arise from MSC Certified Fisheries are traceable and kept separate from non-certified seafood products. These Chain of Custody audits are conducted by traceability auditors and not social auditors.
We delivered services according to the scope of defined in the contracts and with the MSC Chain of custody standards. The social aspect of these MSC Chain of Custody audits was not carried out by SGS, but instead by other auditing firms.
MSC Chain of Custody certification not only provides seafood buyers with confidence that products can be traced back to a fishery that meets the MSC Fisheries Standard, but it also provides consumers creditable assurance of the traceability of the supply chain back to a certified source. Expressed as an MSC ecolabel to the end consumer, the distinctive blue logo indicates the supply chain has been independently assessed and the product identified as certified comes from sustainable fisheries.”
The Outlaw Ocean Project responded: "Thank you for your engagement and for this helpful clarification on the nature of SGS' involvement. Can I confirm you're saying that SGS has only ever conducted MSC traceability audits at both of the plants referred to in our first email, Shandong Lanrun Aquatic Products Co. Ltd. and Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co. Ltd.?
We’re communicating with the global customers of 11 MSC-certified Chinese seafood processing plants that use Uyghur forced labor, and as part of these conversations are learning more about the audits conducted at the sites. According to our current records, at least one of these MSC-certified processing plants has undergone an SGS social audit: Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Foodstuffs Co. Ltd. (MSC-C- 52638). Our investigation found Uyghur forced labor present at the site over a multi-year period, including within two weeks of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation. Does SGS have any comment to make on this matter?
Our findings suggest that social audits conducted against multiple standards have consistently failed to detect Uyghur forced labor at all 11 sites over several years. Given that SGS routinely conducts audits using SMETA, BSCI and SA800 - and noting that SGS audits have previously failed to identify Uyghur forced labor (e.g. a March 2019 BSCI audit of Hetian Taida Apparel Co. Ltd.) - do you have any comment on the general suitability of social audit as a mechanism for detecting Uyghur forced labor?
Rongcheng Haibo Seafood Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-59738) was certified 28 September 2022. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period, including within two weeks of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation.
Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co. Ltd (MSC-C-57659) was certified 30 August 2022. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period.
Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Foodstuffs Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-52638) was certified 12 December 2022. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period, including within two weeks of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation.
Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-51794) was certified 23 November 2022. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period, including within one week of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation.
Rizhao Meijia Keyuan Foods Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-53370) was certified 13 March 2023. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period, including within two weeks of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation.
Shandong Meijia Group Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-51912) was certified 13 March 2023. The MSC certification was issued after the company is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program.
Rizhao Rirong Aquatic Products And Foods Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-55351) was certified 7 June 2023. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi- year period, including within two weeks of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation.
Rizhao Rongxing Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-53499) was certified 24 May 2023. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period, including within two weeks of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation.
Rongcheng Taiming Foods Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-57091), Rongcheng Huiying Foods Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-57161) and Shandong Lanrun Aquatic Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-57565) were certified 22 October 2022, 18 January 2023 and 15 May 2023, respectively. Our research has found that the MSC certifications were issued after the parent companies of the factories accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program."
John Coolican, Global Head of Corporate Communications at SGS, replied by email, saying: “As already mentioned, we reiterate that no social audit has been conducted by SGS to any of the two plants included in your first email (Shandong Lanrun Aquatic Products Co. Ltd. and Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co. Ltd.).
In reference to the additional list of processing plants you provided, SGS has conducted SMETA audits to some of those locations, not in the context of MSC certifications but on the request of SEDEX Members” and providing details on the audit type, audit scheme, factory name and audit date for Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Foodstuffs Co. Ltd., Rongcheng Haibo Seafood Co. Ltd., and Shandong Meijia Group Company Ltd.
The email continued: “We would like to highlight that SGS conducts social audits strictly following the requirements as they are defined by the audit schemes/ clients programmes for which our organisation is formally approved. The information to be collected during the audit (which provides a snapshot in time) and therefore the way they are reported, is also pre-determined as SGS is using the templates provided by the Scheme owners and/or the clients.
During the above mentioned audits, SGS has employed resources who meet all internal and external qualification criteria and the encountered situations were reported as per the applicable scheme requirements.”
The Outlaw Ocean Project responded: "Thank you for sharing these details, we really appreciate the transparency and engagement from SGS on this matter. Our interactions with US importers buying from some of these parties indicate that SGS has undertaken audits on other dates not listed here. Please could you provide a comprehensive account of SGS social audit activities in relation to each of these sites? Relatedly, can I confirm whether the 12 May 2022 SMETA audit of Rongcheng Haibo included worker dormitories in scope?"
John Coolican of SGS responded: "We have provided you with all the audits our social audit teams in China have conducted since 2015 for the factories listed. If you are in possession of other reports for these factories that carry our name, we will need more details (report number, date of the audit, name of the auditors) to further investigate." His email added: "We are not at liberty to publicly release specific details of audit report results."
The Outlaw Ocean Project replied: "Thank you for your reply, John. We are clarifying matters with importers and, where relevant, will be back in touch with you to disclose further details of their claims regarding SGS audit activities. In the meantime, please note that we're not asking SGS to disclose audit report results. As SGS is no doubt aware, SMETA Measurement Criteria cover aspects of on- and off-site worker accommodation. It is our understanding that there are on-site worker dormitories at Rongcheng Haibo. We are asking whether the SMETA audit conducted by SGS included worker dormitories within audit scope, and/or whether a visual inspection of on-site dormitories was conducted during a site walkaround."
John Coolican responded: "Unfortunately, once again, I must reiterate our comment in the last email. We are not at liberty to publicly release specific details of audit report results."