I’m writing to you in light of our latest investigation, which concerns abuses in the Chinese squid fishing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between companies engaged in abuses and Lidl's supply chain.

Our investigation has found that Lidl’s own brand of squid, under the Eridanous range, is processed at a seafood plant in China called Zhoushan Xifeng Aquatic Co. Ltd. It is supplied by at least three companies whose vessels have a history of fishing offenses, including lengthy transmission gaps, illegal fishing and shark finning. For example, one of these vessels had a 42-day transmission…

Thank you for your inquiry. The practices you described are not acceptable to Lidl. In our business activities, we take responsibility, respect and protect the fundamental rights of all stakeholders in the different stages of our supply chains. Our commitment to implementing social and environmental standards in the supply chain is enshrined in our Code of Conduct, which is part of our legally binding agreement and applies to the entire supply chain. Our Code of Conduct applies to all companies of Schwarz Group, as well as all Lidl country units. We have also published a comprehensive corporat…

Thank you very much for your response to our email, we really appreciate your engagement on this issue and your transparency with us in sharing your supplier statement.

Industry analysts and experts have, however, told us that traceability from China is highly unreliable, despite various certification programs depended on by buyers and importers. This is largely due to gaps in record-keeping as product passes from point of catch to point of export, with documentation often filled in retrospectively to meet buyer requirements without effective oversight to verify compliance. We have visual evi…

Thank you for getting back to us with further information. We take our corporate responsibility as well as these allegations very seriously. As we mentioned before, the practices you described are not acceptable to us. We also expect honesty and compliance with our regulations and guidelines from our suppliers throughout our business relationships as well as proof that these guidelines have been complied with. We are therefore also examining the situation from a compliance perspective. Since your inquiry, we have been in contact with our supplier and are currently evaluating the best possible…

Thanks for your email, we really appreciate your interest in the issues and incidents highlighted in our recent correspondence and that you are conducting your own inquiry into these matters. Given the nature of our reporting and our obligations of confidentiality to sources, we are unable to give you some of the source materials requested, but are happy to give you more specifics where we can:

1. Could you please provide more specific details on the transmission gaps (time and location), e.g. for Zhoushan Han Yi 3, Zhoushan Han Yi 7, Zhoushan Han Yi 22, Zhoushan Han Yi 21, Zhejiang Zhou Pu O…

We take such allegations very seriously and the practices described below are not acceptable to Lidl. We were also in direct exchange with 'The Outlaw Ocean Project' on this to discuss the allegations and our handling of such cases. Lidl is committed to its corporate duty of care. We are therefore working hard to minimize negative impacts in our supply chains, to effectively remedy rights violations, and to use our influence for positive change." The statement added that Lidl had examined the concerns raised by The Outlaw Ocean Project: "We immediately contacted our direct suppliers to investi…

Lidl takes the allegations raised in The Outlaw Ocean Project’s investigation seriously and the practices described are not acceptable to Lidl. Therefore, the company has immediately contacted its direct suppliers to investigate the allegations and is currently checking its entire fish and seafood supply chain for such links. Lidl asks for your understanding that these investigations are thorough and take a long time due to the complexity of international supply chains. The company plans to have further discussions with The Outlaw Ocean Project once the comprehensive review of supply chains is…

We take such allegations very seriously and the practices described by Outlaw Ocean are not acceptable to Lidl. We were also in direct contact with The Outlaw Ocean Project to discuss the allegations and our handling of such cases. Lidl is committed to its corporate due diligence. We are therefore working intensively on minimizing negative effects in our supply chains, effectively remedying rights violations and using our influence for positive change.

With our Policy Statement, we are unequivocally committed to respecting human rights and environmental obligations. Through our Code of Conduc…

A coalition of eighteen NGOs wrote to thirteen major seafood distributors and retailers, including Lidl, asking a series of questions connected to the Outlaw Ocean's reporting. Their email to Lidl said: "Dear Lidl,

We are writing to you on behalf of a consortium of human rights NGOs requesting an update on the steps Lidl has taken following the investigation published by The Outlaw Ocean Project. The investigation highlighted concerns about state-imposed Uyghur and North Korean forced labor across the Chinese seafood processing facilities, including within your company’s supply chain.

Given…

Dear Mr. Hee-Seok Shin, thank you again for your inquiry.

Lidl is committed to its corporate due diligence. We are therefore working intensively on minimizing negative effects in our supply chains, effectively remedying rights violations if necessary and using our influence for positive change. With the policy statement of our human rights strategy we are unequivocally committed to respecting human rights and environmental obligations. Our Code of Conduct for Business Partners sets out minimum social and environment…

We were in contact with Lidl in 2023 regarding our investigation into China’s squid fishing and seafood processing industries. Our ongoing investigation into the use of forced labor in Chinese seafood plants has uncovered additional evidence which we wanted to bring to your attention.

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 t…

"Thank you for your inquiry. Lidl is committed to its corporate due diligence. We are therefore working intensively on minimizing negative effects in our supply chains, effectively remedying rights violations if necessary and using our influence for positive change. In addition, our Code of Conduct for suppliers describes the fundamental principles for cooperation with business partners and is based on the ILO labor standards. If we become aware of specific instances of violations of these provisions, we investigate them and take appropriate action. We continuously and systematically review po…