Correspondence
Email to the contact address for Seafood Connection.
The email said that the company's suppliers Shandong Haidu and Yantai Sanko have 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. The email asked for comment.
The Outlaw Ocean Project sent an additional email to Seafood Connection, saying: Trade data shows that Seafood Connection has been consigned shipments of seafood from the suppliers Rizhao Meijia Keyuan Foodstuff, Rizhao Rirong Aquatic Food and Rizhao Rongxing. Rizhao Meijia is a Meijia Group company, while Rizhao Rirong and Rizhao Ronxing are Rongsense Group companies. The Meijia Group and the Rongsense Group have received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under the state-imposed labor transfer program referenced in my last email, since 2019 and 2017 respectively and as recently as May 2023. In addition, trade data also shows shipments of seafood from Rongcheng Guangrun and Zhejiang Industrial Group, consigned to Seafood Connection. Rongcheng Guangrun Aquatic Food is owned by Shandong Bodelong Group. Bodelong Group vessels have fished illegally in the South Atlantic and the South Pacific Oceans, and have disembarked at least two dead deckhands in the Port of Montevideo, in 2016 and 2019. One vessel also disembarked an ill deckhand in Montevideo in 2020 who had symptoms of beriberi, a sign of severe neglect. Separately, our research has found that two vessels owned by a company under Zhejiang Industrial Group’s majority owner, Zhejiang Shengda Ocean Co. Ltd. (浙江盛达海洋股份有限公司), have a history of disabling their vessel tracking, and we have also authenticated footage showing a Zhejiang Industrial Group worker unloading squid for the plant from a vessel on which an Indonesian worker died. The email asked if Seafood Connection had any comment or clarification to make to this or the previous Outlaw Ocean email.
Jozua Koffeman, UM Supply Chain and CSR Officer at Seafood Connection, provided a statement to The Outlaw Ocean Project's Dutch publishing partner, RTL: "Seafood Connection will not tolerate any infringement of human rights in its supply chains. Seafood Connection has set itself the goal, together with the sector association, to work with its suppliers to prevent human rights violations, including forced labor. We therefore require all suppliers to sign an Ethical Trade Agreement, based on the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code. All suppliers of products that we supply to Western European supermarkets have also been audited by an independent third party according to the social standards of SMETA, BSCI or SA8000.
We are disappointed to hear that forced labor as described by The Outlaw Ocean Project still occurs to this day in countries such as China and we sympathize with the victims of these practices. We appreciate the work of activist groups such as The Outlaw Ocean Project to expose these types of abuses. Seafood Connection strongly condemns sanctions violations, abuse and forced labor.
We have not seen any previous indications of the human rights violations mentioned by The Outlaw Ocean Project among our suppliers. We have immediately terminated our relationship with and deliveries from Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co., LTD and Zhejiang Industrial Group following this information. The other companies mentioned have not had a relationship with Seafood Connection for 1.5 to 2 years.
We are disappointed that our measures have not been sufficient to detect these human rights violations. For example, for Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co., LTD, we did the following research: Independent social compliance audits by third parties: 'Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audits' (SMETA) in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, which found that no evidence of forced labor was found at the said company. Additional physical visits and checks by our own employees, during which we found no suspicion of human rights violations. Check of vessels listed on catch certificates for an entry in the European Union database of vessels associated with illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, where we found nothing.
We will never do business with companies that use raw materials in products intended for Seafood Connection that pose the potential for human rights violations. We have taken extra care to investigate all deliveries within 2021 to date from Asia for any possible relationships with the companies mentioned. In addition, even more stringent due diligence and risk assessments for all ESG risks, including forced labor, will be conducted for all deliveries to ensure that Seafood Connection's supply chain is without doubt free of forced labor.
As stated, Seafood Connection does not tolerate any human rights violation, nor any attempt to cover up such a violation by suppliers. That is why Seafood Connection also supports the upcoming European regulation on banning products made with forced labor from the European market, to oblige all companies to take action against any human rights violations, with powerful institutions such as the European Union in support. Furthermore, through our industry association, we will urge the European Union to draw up and publish a list of fishing vessels and companies outside the Union involved in human rights violations, so that all importers of seafood products can exclude these practices."