Correspondence
Email sent to Eloise Fanuli, Senior Media Relations Manager at Woolworths.
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 companies engaged in such practices and your supply chain.
Woolworths stocks squid products from ██████████ sources squid products from a Chinese processor called Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co. Ltd. Shandong Haidu has 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 Woolworths have any comment to make in response to the above information?
Please reply to this email by close of business on July 6, 2023."
Eloise Fanuli, Senior Media Relations Manager, replied for Woolworths: "Thank you for your email. Please see our statement below. We will keep an eye out for the story once it’s published. Kind regards Eloise
Comments from a Woolworths spokesperson: “Based on information from our supplier, we understand that none of our products are sourced from this processor. “However, we know global seafood supply chains are inherently at higher risk for modern slavery due to the nature of the industry, and this is a priority area for us. “Transparency is at the core of our approach to human rights, and we are committed to acting in the best interest of workers when issues are identified in our supply chain. “We will continue to monitor this issue to understand whether further investigation or action is required, as we seek to ensure that all workers in our supply chain are treated with respect and that their rights are upheld.”"
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed: "Woolworth’s website lists Dagim breaded fillets (from Dagim Tahorim) and Habani squid tubes (from Oriental Merchant). Trade records show shipments of pollock consigned to Dagim Tahorim from Yantai Sanko Fisheries. Yantai Sanko has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a state-imposed labor transfer program since 2019 and until at least 2022. Separately, Oriental Merchant has imported shipments of seafood from Shandong Haidu, which has also received persons from the Xinjiang region under a labor transfer program. Does Woolworths have any comment on these supply lines? Thank you for your engagement on this."
Eloise Fanuli, Senior Media Manager at Woolworths replied: "This came through over the weekend, so I'm just sharing with the Human Rights and Responsible Sourcing teams now and will let you know when I hear back from them."
Eloise Fanuli, Senior Media Manager at Woolworths, emailed: "We're looking into this for your reporting. However, in the meantime, our Human Rights team would be interested in better understanding your team's investigation. Rachel Elliott (in CC) is our General manager of Sustainability - Human Rights. Her team engages with organisations such as yours to better identify supply chain risks we may be exposed to. I'd like to introduce you to discuss more about this specific investigation purely from an advocacy perspective. Any engagement for media reporting and quoting will continue to come from me directly, meaning your team's engagement with Rachel would be off-the-record from a media perspective. Would you be open discussing your work with her team?"
The Outlaw Ocean Project replied: "Thanks for this offer. We’d be happy to engage with her once we have published our findings. For now, our interactions will need to stay on record and for the sake of getting formal on record engagement."
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed: "I'm just checking in to see if you have any updates for us on our query of July 15 re. Dagim Tahorim and Oriental Merchant. Would you be able to get something to us by end of day tomorrow (Friday, Sept 1)?"