Correspondence
Email sent to the sales team at NorthSeafood Holland BV.
The email said that NorthSeafood Holland BV has imported shipments of seafood from a supplier called Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd., based in China. Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a state- imposed labor transfer program since 2019 and until at least 2022. 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. The email asked for comment.
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed the sales team at Northseafood Holland, that trade records show that Northseafood Holland has imported shipments of frozen fish from Yantai Longwin, a company based in Shandong, China. Yantai Longwin has also received persons from the Xinjiang region, under the program referenced in my previous email and as recently as March 2023. The email asked if the company has any comment or clarification in response to this or the previous email.
Pieter Post, Sales Manager at Northseafood Holland, replied: "We have stopped the cooperation with this workshop already many year ago, no further comments."
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed back, saying that the trade records show a shipment from Yantai Longwin to Northseafood Holland as recently as 2022, and from Yantai Sanko as recently as 2021. Can you confirm if those are the last shipments from either supplier to Northseafood Holland? And can you confirm that Northseafood’s supply relationship with both companies has ceased, or if you were just referring to Yantai Longwin?