Correspondence
Email sent to Tesco Ireland's press contact.
The email said: "We’re 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 a company engaged in such practices and a supplier in your supply chain.
Trade records show that Pan Euro Foods has been supplied Alaska pollock from Rizhao Jia Tian Xia Foods, a Meijia Group company. 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. The U.S. has prohibited the importation of goods produced from state-imposed forced labor.
According to our research, ‘Diggers’ fish goujons, made from Alaska pollock and processed at Rizhao Jia Tian Xia Foods, are sold at Tesco stores in Ireland.
While we recognize that you may not be aware of the above issues, we wish to ask if Tesco has any comment or statement to make in response to this email. Please let us know by close of business on September 29, noting that all interactions remain on record."
Orla Molloy, Head of Public Relations at Tesco Ireland, emailed: "Thank you for sharing the below. Please be aware that we echo the position of Tesco Group which you would have received in recent weeks; whereby the industry position from the BRC also applies to the below query."