I’m contacting you in light of our latest investigation, which concerns the use of forced labor in China’s food processing industry, and a link we’ve discovered with an auditable standard managed by your organisation.
Our investigation has identified 11 Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified seafood processing facilities in China using forced labor from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
The MSC certificates were issued after all 11 processing plants are known to have accepted Uyghurs through Chinese government labor transfer programs, and the investigation demonstrates the pr…
Sorry we have not able to respond to your enquiry. In order to do so we would need to have more information regarding the particular processing plants you are referring to for us to investigate whether there was any involvement of BSCI. Please also note that MSC certification does not necessarily mean BSCI compliance.
Thank you for your engagement, I am including the list of processing plants below. Please respond to this email by close of business June 27, 2023.
Rongcheng Haibo Seafood Co. Ltd. (MSC-C-59738) was certified 28 September 2022. The MSC certification was issued after the factory is known to have accepted Uyghurs through a Chinese government labor transfer program. Our investigation demonstrates the presence of Uyghur forced labor at the site over a multi-year period, including within two weeks of the factory receiving its MSC accreditation.
Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co. Ltd (MSC-C-57659) w…
Thanks for this information. Given the work it would require look into each of these processing plants, I do not believe it will be possible to get back to you by close of business tomorrow. Note in particular that we have to contact our representatives in a different time zone who have already closed business today. We will however endeavour to get back to you as soon as we can. I trust you understand our position.
We have already been able to look into the eleven processed plants you listed below. Our research shows that none of these eleven plants have received an amfori BSCI audit.
It is important to note that while amfori BSCI is recognized by MSC this does not mean that every MSC certified plant has received an amfori audit.
Nevertheless, thanks for sharing this information. amfori’s stance against forced labour is set out in the amfori BSCI C…