We last emailed Walmart in February 2024 regarding our investigation into the use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing industry. For several months, we have been conducting an investigation of the shrimp company, Choice Canning. Part of that investigation has involved an ongoing conversation with a former Choice Canning employee who managed a plant for the company in Andhra Pradesh, India. We began talking while they were still on staff with Choice Canning and we have continued the dialogue since they stepped down from their position with the company. This person has filed a whistlebl…
Below is Walmart’s statement.
As outlined in our Standards for Suppliers, Walmart prohibits unsafe working conditions or forced labor of any form. We expect suppliers to operate safe workplaces and take responsibility for the wellbeing of their workers, and we expect our suppliers to adhere to our forced labor prevention principles including workers not paying to get a job, workers understa…
The piece we are preparing to publish, which we believe to be in the public interest, will mention Walmart briefly as one of Choice Canning’s clients, but in no way accuses the company or any of its officers of doing anything wrong.
We are writing, therefore, to alert Walmart to matters uncovered by the investigation prior to publication of our article, and to offer the firm the opportunity to comment should they wish to.
The article will highlight some concerns about the plant at Amalapuram which include: Workers being paid less than the minimum wage. Workers living on the site not being al…
Can you share details on the timing of your story? I am also sharing an updated statement that includes information related to the antibiotic issue you raised in your email.
As outlined in our Standards for Suppliers, Walmart prohibits unsafe working conditions or forced labor of any form, and as outlined by our [Antibiotics in Farm Animals Position](https://corporate.walmart.com/policies#antibiotics-in-farm-animals-position, we limit our supplier’s use of antibiotics…