Correspondence
Email sent to Jason Parsons, Commercial Director of Unibond Seafood International Ltd.
The email said that Unibond has imported shipments of seafood from Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Products, which has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a state-imposed labor transfer program. The email said that the U.N., 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 Unibond for comment.
Jason Parsons replied: "Thank you for your email and I am very surprised to learn of allegations that Qingdao Tianyuan has engaged in the use of forced labor. Any potential breach in the integrity of our supply chain would be considered very serious and as a result of these allegations we have followed up as a matter of urgency. We have therefore contacted the plant who strenuously deny such accusations and have provided us with the attached." The attached statement from Qingdao Tianyuan said: "Our company is concerned that a non-profit organization has recently made a groundless allegation to MSC that our company has illegal forced labor. The MSC orgnization has sent a relevant email to your company, indicating that they cannot take a position on on the veracity of the allegations. In this regard, our company solemnly declares as follows: Our company always strictly abides by the relevant laws and regulations of the People's Republic of China, operates lawfully and honestly, strictly comply with the relevant requirements of MSC CoC standard, and does not have any illegal acts of forced labor."
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed: "We have evidence that people transferred from Xinjiang are working in Qingdao Tianyuan’s plant. Our evidence includes state media articles as well as video evidence and so is quite strong, so we just wanted to clarify if Qingdao Tianyuan has confirmed to you if there indeed are, or are not, workers at this plant from Xinjiang?"
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed an additional follow-up question: Does Unibond provide pollock sourced from Qingdao Tianyuan to Nomad Foods or to Young’s?
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed an additional query regarding the supply chain between Qingdao Tianyuan and certain of Unibond's customers, and asked if the company could reply to the previously unanswered questions.
Jason Parsons of Unibond replied with two emails emphasizing that due to contractual customer confidentiality, he is unable to share specific details. The second email clarified that none of the companies mentioned in The Outlaw Ocean Project’s previous email were supplied product by Unibond from the Qingdao Tianyuan factory, and a statement: “Unibond Seafood International remains steadfast in our commitment to sourcing products exclusively from plants that have been thoroughly vetted and approved by renowned international auditing bodies, including Smeta/Sedex, MSC etc. Our commitment to upholding the highest industry standards underscores our unwavering dedication to ethical and responsible supply chain practices.” The statement added: “Please note that Qingdao Tianyuan accounted for a very minor role in our supply base (approx 1%) and in light of the recent allegations we are currently engaged in discussions with the factory to understand more about this matter.”