I’m contacting you in light of our latest investigation which concerns the use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between companies engaged in such practices and a supplier in your supply chain - Yantai Sanko Fisheries. According to product labeling, Yantai Sanko Fisheries has supplied two types of dog food to Albert Heijn: AH twister snacks and AH sushi snacks. Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a state- imposed labor transfer program under a state-imposed labor transfer program since 20…
We want customers to be able to shop with peace of mind. That's why suppliers of our private label products are certified according to social and environmental standards; we see this as an important foundation. In addition, as part of our purchasing conditions, we apply codes of conduct for our suppliers. These are brought together in the so-called Standards of Engagement. Additionally we do SMETA audits. An audit which helps to understand standards of labour, health and safety, environmental performance, and ethics within yo…
Thank you very much for your reply to Ian’s email, and for engaging with us on this issue. You asked about the source of our information. We are unable to share any documents or other materials at this time, but we can say that our evidence includes footage showing people from Xinjiang, including Uyghurs, working inside the facility, as well as Chinese media coverage of Yantai Sanko accepting labor transferred out of Xinjiang. Was there anything in the audit reports or related materials that AH received about this supplier that indicated there are Uyghurs or other minorities from Xinjiang on-s…
The Smeta audit was performed by Bureau Veritas, which is a publicized and reputable organization." The email then enclosed a snippet of the Smeta audit relating to forced/trafficked/bonded labor in the supply chain of the audited site. The email continued: "But if you have information that people are forced to work, that's not what we want. Please could you send images or other information to me (under embargo)?
Thanks so much for that insight, Pauline. Do you know when that particular audit was carried out?
We last emailed Albert Heijn in August 2023 regarding our investigation into the use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing. Since then, our ongoing investigation has uncovered further evidence which we want to raise with Albert Heijn.
We have investigators on the ground in China who have been engaging with labor brokers directly involved with the transfer of North Korean workers to factories in China. Through this and other investigative means, including collecting online footage from the plants and interviews with workers recently returned to North Korea from China, we’ve found large…
Thanks for your email. At Albert Heijn we take these allegations seriously, and have engaged with our supplier Pickenpack on these allegations. Please find attached their reaction. Pickenpack has assured us that respect for all human and labor rights is always a top priority for Pickenpack and Trident Seafoods corporation. Pickenpack has begun an independent investigation into the matter. As a precaution, they have suspended all trade with Haiqing on January 25th, 2024."
Attached to the email was a document from Pickenpack Seafoods signed by Pickenpack's Managing Director Thomas Scherer and…
Thank you for that update and the statement from Albert Heijn. We do very much appreciate your engagement with our questions and with the issues raised by our reporting.
Thanks also for sharing the customer statement furnished by Pickenpack Seafoods and Trident. We do want to address one point raised in that statement, the claim that “no evidence has been provided to Trident to substantiate these allegations”. We have discussed in detail the methodology, findings and evidentiary materials of our investigation with Trident in email correspondence dating back to January 12, 2024. In what we de…