Correspondence
Email sent to the contact address for Zhou International Corp.
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 a company engaged in such practices and your supply chain.
Zhou International Corp. has imported shipments of seafood from a supplier called Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Products, based in China.
Qingdao Tianyuan 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 schemes which use coercive methods in worker enrollment. The U.S. has prohibited the importation of goods produced from state-imposed forced labor.
Does Zhou International Corp. have any comment or statement to make in light of the above information? Please let me know by close of business July 18, 2023."