Correspondence
Email sent to the contact address for Ocean Beauty Seafoods.
The email said that the company's supplier Qingdao Tianyuan has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a 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 and obstruct freedom to leave employment. The email also said that the U.S. has prohibited the importation of goods produced from state-imposed forced labor, and asked for comment.
Email sent to Ocean Beauty Seafoods asking to clarify if Ocean Beauty Seafoods sourced any product from Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Products, or any other Chinese supplier, to fulfill any Department of Agriculture contracts.
Email sent to Ocean Beauty Seafoods saying publicly available trade data shows it has imported frozen pacific cod fillets from Qingdao Lian Yang Aquatic Product, which is linked to Uyghur forced labor. The email asked if Ocean Beauty could confirm whether any of the various seafoods sourced from 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 procurement contracts with the U.S. government.