Correspondence
Email sent to two contact addresses for Stadt Ulm.
The email said: "We are contacting you regarding our latest investigation, which concerns the use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing industry.
According to the EU tenders database, Transgourmet Deutschland won a €2.7m contract from Stadt Ulm in 2021 to supply the city’s public schools with meals.
Our research has found that Transgourmet Deutschland offers pollock under the Fishmasters label, a brand owned by the Dutch seafood company Kramers’ Seafood. Kramers’ Seafood imported at least 12 shipments of pollock from a Chinese processing plant called Qingdao Tianyuan in 2022. Kramers’ Seafood also imported at least nine shipments of pollock nuggets from Qingdao Lian Yang Aquatic Products in 2022, a company linked to Qingdao Tianyuan through corporate ownership.
Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Products has received persons from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China under the state-imposed labor transfer program since 2020 and until at least May 2023. Qingdao Lian Yang has received persons transferred from Xinjiang since April 2022 and as recently as April 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.
While we recognize that Stadt Ulm may not be aware of these issues, we have some questions for Stadt Ulm:
- Has fish sourced from Qingdao Tianyuan or Qingdao Lian Yang been served to students at any Ulm public school facilities since 2021?
- Can Stadt Ulm confirm it is confident that no Uyghur forced labor exists in any of the seafood served to students at Ulm public school facilities?
- Does Stadt Ulm have any comment or clarification to make regarding the information in this email?"