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 between a company engaged in such practices and your supply chain.

OBI Seafoods Inc.’s supplier Rizhao Rirong Aquatic Products And Foods Co. Ltd. is a Rongsense Group company. The Rongsense Group has received multiple groups of persons from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China under the state-imposed labor transfer program.

The United Nations, human rights organizations and academic experts agree th…

I recently contacted you in relation to our investigation into the use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing industry, as it related to your supply chain. The email noted that the Rongsense Group, whose company Rizhao Rirong Aquatic Products is one of your suppliers, has received persons from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China under the state-imposed labor transfer program. Public records show that, since 2020, the Department of Agriculture has awarded at least fifteen procurement contracts to OBI Seafoods. Can you clarify if OBI Seafoods sourced an…

Hi Ian, I work with OBI Seafoods, one of the seafood companies mentioned in your article today in Politico, “How the U.S. Violates its Own Trade Laws to Buy Seafood from China.” OBI Seafoods has asked me to alert you that the information you included about the company in your story is inaccurate. The following statement clarifying the facts can be attributed to John Hanrahan, who is currently the COO of OBI and will become the company’s CEO in January.

OBI Seafoods does not import products from China and has never used products processed in China to fulfill USDA contracts. All products pro…

Dear Pat and John,

Thank you for your note. We appreciate you engaging.

You said that OBI Seafood does not import products from China. However, according to publicly available trade records sourced from Import Genius, OBI Seafoods has imported four shipments from four different Chinese companies since 2020. This includes imports of products such as frozen pink salmon, frozen sockeye salmon, and Pacific cod filets. One of these shipments, in January 2022, is from Rizhao Rirong Aquatic Products. As you may know, Rizhao Rirong Aquatic Products is a subsidiary of the Rongsense Group, which our i…