US bars seafood imports from Chinese company Dalian Ocean Fishing over forced labour suspicions
- Indonesian workers hired onto Dalian’s vessels have been subjected to physical violence, debt bondage and other abuses, the US says
- This is the first such action by US customs against an entire fleet, as opposed to targeting individual vessels
The United States is barring seafood imports from a Chinese fishing company it says uses forced Indonesian labour on its vessels, the Biden administration announced on Friday.
US Customs and Border Protection said it has identified labour abuses on all of Dalian Ocean Fishing’s 32 vessels, including physical violence, withholding of wages, and abusive working and living conditions.
The customs agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said it has issued an order to immediately detain tuna, swordfish and other seafood products from the Chinese fishing company at US ports of entry.
This “will ensure we continue to protect the human rights of those working in the distant-water fishing industry, while also upholding safeguarding our national and economic security,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
Mayorkas said this was the first time the customs agency has banned imports from an entire fishing fleet, as opposed to individual vessels.
“DHS will continue to aggressively investigate the use of forced labour by distant-water fishing vessels and by a wide range of other industries,” Mayorkas said.
“Producers and US importers alike should understand that there will be consequences for entities that attempt to exploit workers to sell goods in the United States,” he said.
Dalian Ocean Fishing did not respond to an email request for comment.
Ned Price, a spokesman for the State Department, said on Friday that “US law forbids the importation of products made with forced labour”.
“Today’s action helps stop human rights abusers from profiting from forced labour. It is also another example of the United States taking measures to address harmful fishing practices,” he said.
US moves to address ‘high-seas slavery’ in global fish subsidy talks
Last year, the Trump administration’s State Department revoked more than a dozen visas for individuals complicit in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing with links to human trafficking, Price said.
US imports from Dalian Ocean Fishing amounted to just US$233,000 in the 2020 financial year, the customs agency said. But the ban is intended to signal a continued effort by the Biden administration to curb trades associated with forced labour.
The move comes less than two days after the first meeting between US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He.
Earlier this week, Tai called attention to the issue of forced labour on fishing vessels, saying it “harms the lives and well-being of fishers and workers around the world and it must be eliminated”.
China, US hold first trade talks of Biden era amid lagging purchases
Tai’s team issued a proposal to the World Trade Organization urging the international community to address the issue, including a call to cut subsidies to illegal fishing.
On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee adopted an amendment to the Clean Energy for America Act that would prohibit the import of products such as solar cells, wind turbines and energy storage equipment unless the United Nations can verify that no slavery or child labour was used in their manufacturing.
Additional reporting by Reuters
