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 a company engaged in such practices and a supplier in your supply chain - Rongcheng Puchen.

We have evidence of squid catch from a Zhoushan Ningtai Ocean Fisheries vessel that engaged in unregulated fishing activity - the Ning Tai 58 - at Rongcheng Puchen’s processing plant. Another 14 vessels owned by Zhoushan Ningtai are linked to a range of environmental and human rights issues including forced labor, AIS spoofing, shark…

I contacted you last month regarding our investigation into abuses in China’s seafood processing industry. I’m emailing today as we have additional findings to raise with you.

According to trade records, Simplot has imported squid from a processor called Rongcheng Haibo Seafood Company, which is based in eastern China.

Rongcheng Haibo is a Chishan Group company. Fishing vessels owned by the group have been observed fishing in North Korean waters in contravention of UN sanctions and fishing illegally in Indonesian waters. The group also owns at least two reefer vessels which have transshipped…

Simplot Australia is committed to upholding human rights and taking the necessary steps and actions to ensure that we identify, manage, and mitigate the risks of modern slavery, including forced labor. In late July, we were contacted by Sedex, who advised that the Outlaw Ocean Project had uncovered that one of our suppliers was potentially using forced labor from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in its operations.

We immediately investigated and identified the supplier was listed by our broker/agent as a designated contingency supplier. Upon further investigation, we uncovered th…

Thank you very much for your reply to our query and for providing us with such a detailed response.

We’d like to seek further clarification on your business relationship with Rongcheng Haibo. According to publicly available trade data we have access to, Simplot Australia is listed as the consignee of at least one shipment of todarodes pacificus squid tubes in February 2022 from Rongcheng Haibo Seafood. Do you have a record of this specific shipment?

Additionally, what independent steps did Simplot take to verify that Rongcheng Puchen does not source from the Zhoushan Ningtai-owned vessels re…

Please find responses to your queries.

1. Simplot Australia is listed as the consignee of at least one shipment of todarodes pacificus squid tubes in February 2022 from Rongcheng Haibo Seafood. Do you have a record of this specific shipment? Simplot has never purchased any squid from Roncheng Haibo.

2. What independent steps did Simplot take to verify that Rongcheng Puchen does not source from the Zhoushan Ningtai- owned vessels referenced in our previous emails? For your awareness, our investigation spans 2018 to 2023.

Our supplier provided a signed declaration stating they had never sourc…