Correspondence
Email sent to contact address for Ocean Beauty Seafoods, and two company directors.
The email said that Ocean Beauty Seafoods imports frozen pacific cod fillets from Qingdao Lian Yang Aquatic Product, according to publicly available trade data. Qingdao Lian Yang is linked to the company mentioned in our previous communications, Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Products, through corporate ownership. Our investigation has also found Uyghurs working at Qingdao Lian Yang, since April 2022 and until as recently as April 2023. Additionally, OBS Smoked & Distributed, a company associated with Ocean Beauty Seafoods, also imports pacific cod fillets from Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Products. According to publicly available trade data, the most recent import was in April 2023. As noted in our previous emails, 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 as recently as May 2023. OOP asked if Ocean Beauty could confirm whether any of the various seafoods sourced from your suppliers Qingdao Tianyuan and Qingdao Lian Yang have been used in any of the Ocean Beauty Seafood products available in North American retail markets, any of the various seafoods sourced from your suppliers Qingdao Tianyuan and Qingdao Lian Yang have been used in any of the OBS Smoked & Distribution products available in North American retail markets, and if any of the various seafoods sourced from your suppliers Qingdao Tianyuan and Qingdao Lian Yang have been used to fulfill your procurement contracts with the U.S. government.