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 your supply chain.

This link concerns a Chinese squid jigger owned by the Chinese fishery company, Rongcheng Wangdao Ocean Aquatic Products. In a seven-month period, one crew member died and a second was disembarked for emergency medical treatment after suffering serious mistreatment and abuse while on board the vessel. Our reporting documents multiple indicators of forced labor among crew onboard the vessel:…

I’m following up my email dated January 10, 2023, with additional details we have uncovered in our investigation into the Chinese squid fishing fleet and links between abuses in that industry and Sysco’s supply chain.

A number of PanaPesca USA calamari products are listed on Sysco’s food service sales website. Import records show that PanaPesca USA has received multiple shipments of squid from Zhejiang Industrial Group, a Chinese seafood processing company.

Two vessels owned by a company under Zhejiang Industrial Group’s majority owner, Zhejiang Shengda Ocean Co., Ltd., have a history of dis…

I contacted you earlier this year regarding The Outlaw Ocean Project’s investigation into abuses in the Chinese squid fishing industry, as it related to your supply chain. I am contacting you again in light of new findings made as part of our ongoing reporting on human rights and environmental issues connected with the world’s oceans.

Further to my previous correspondence, we have uncovered a link between companies engaged in the use of Uyghur forced labor and a supplier in your supply chain. Sysco stocks Ruggiero Seafood Inc. products. Our investigation has uncovered evidence that Ruggiero’…

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 Sysco’s supply chain. The email noted that Sysco stocks Ruggiero Seafood Inc. products. Our investigation has uncovered evidence that Ruggiero’s suppliers Rongcheng Haibo and Shandong Haidu have received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a state-imposed labor transfer program.

Additionally, we’ve found that Sysco stocks High Liner Foods products, including pollock and cod.

Our investigation has uncovered evidence that High Liner’s sup…

We have found evidence that people transferred out of Xinjiang province under a state program were sent to work at the seafood processors Rongcheng Haibo, Shandong Haidu and Yantai Sanko. In December 2021, the U.S. signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act, which introduced a legal presumption that all imports produced “wholly or in part” from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region were derived from state-imposed forced labor. This presumption also applies to goods made with Uyghur and other Turkic minority labor transferred out of Xinjiang via labor-transfer programs. Will you be…

Attached is a response from Highliner we received as part of our inquiry into this matter. Regarding your question about fulfillment of government contracts, I need to get back with the team on our final response for this portion of your inquiry." The attached document was a statement from High Liner signed by Bill DiMento, Vice President Corporate Sustainability & Government Affairs, and which had the same wording as the statement provided by High Liner to The Outlaw Ocean Project: "High Liner Foods takes these allegations very seriously. We have researched the claims made in the inquiry exte…

We did complete our internal investigation into this matter and I’m currently getting our response approved. I’ve also worked with our team to provide you a brief summary of our program with Sysco brand suppliers that is designed to mitigate risk of human rights abuses in our supply chain. This information used to be included in our sustainability report but hasn’t been included in a while, so I thought you may be unaware of the depth of our actions to uphold human rights. Our approval process is a little lengthy, but I expect I’ll have a reply to you by Monday. In addition, I’ve created a sum…

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

We are writing to you on behalf of a consortium of human rights NGOs requesting an update on the steps Sysco 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.

Gi…

Ethan,

I wanted to confirm our receipt of your letter. Sysco is unwavering in its belief that all people deserve to work in a safe environment with fair treatment and equal opportunities to succeed. This is an integral part of our company values. Any act of human trafficking, slavery, forced labor, or child labor within Sysco’s supply chain is unacceptable and, if identified, will be promptly addressed in compliance with our policies and procedures.

We will respond to your inquiry accordingly. In the interim, I can share with you a new [webpage](https://www.sysco.com/sustainability/human-ri…

Since we were last in contact with Sysco, we have made additional findings in our ongoing investigation into the use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing industry 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 to North Korea from China, we’ve found large numbers of North Korean wor…

The following statement can be attributed to a Sysco spokesperson: 'Sysco instructed suppliers to suspend production of our products at all facilities associated with Dalian Haiqing Food as we investigate these allegations. Sysco has already established it does not have any production at the company’s Dadong facilities.

Sysco severs ties with organizations we determine have violated our Supplier Code of Conduct consistent with our zero-tolerance policy for human and labor rights abuses. Our dedication to responsible sourcing is unwavering and we will continue to take necessary actions.'

I…

Thanks for your email and for Sysco’s engagement with us on this. Thank you for taking seriously the safety concerns that we raised.

We understand your interest in additional details from our research so that you can conduct your own thorough investigation. I’m sure you can appreciate that, given the sensitive nature of these issues and the safety concerns we have for our sources on the ground, we request that none of this information is relayed to any Haiqing staff. If such details are conveyed back to China, there will likely be an attempt to identify who visited the plant on our behalf and…

Apologies for our delayed response. Here are our responses to your questions.

Can you please itemize for us, which of your customers receive seafood tied to Dalian Haiqing? Sysco does not disclose customer information.

Has Sysco conducted any social audits at Haiqing’s facilities and if so what type, when, with what result, and were these audits unannounced? All Sysco suppliers or facilities used by Sysco suppliers to package Sysco branded products undergo audits prior to being approved for use.

If audits were indeed conducted at Haiqing’s facilities, what - if any - language or proces…

Thanks for coming back to us on those questions. Could you please clarify some of the outstanding elements, specifically:

• Were the audits that were carried out for Sysco announced or unannounced?
• Was there any language or process included in those audits to identify the presence of North Korean workers?
• In addition, can Sysco say who carried out these audits at Haiqing’s facilities, and when?

Since our last email to Sysco, we’ve obtained trade records that show Sysco France imported multiple shipments of seafood from Dalian Haiqing between 2019 and 2023.

The French company Cité Mar…

In your last email to us (February 1, 2024) you disclosed that “All Sysco suppliers or facilities used by Sysco suppliers to package Sysco branded products undergo audits prior to being approved for use” and that these audits “cover several areas including environmental, health and safety, and labor standards”. Since we were last in contact with you, we have spoken with several academics and labor rights experts about the role of social audits, corporate social r…