Supermarkets in Britain that appear to be selling products linked to slave labor in China could be “complicit in putting profits before human rights”, a Labor MP has said.
Sarah Champion’s comments come after a BBC Eye investigation found that tomato paste sold in four leading British supermarkets appeared to contain tomatoes produced using harsh and coercive forced labor in Xinjiang.
Some products have ‘Italian’ in their name, others have ‘Italian’ in their description.
All supermarkets whose products were previously tested disputed the BBC’s findings, while China also denied using forced labor in the westernmost province.
In an urgent question in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Champion described UK product labeling as “weak and confusing”.
The chairman of the International Development Select Committee also called for consumers to be given more information about the countries where product ingredients come from and stricter legislation to effectively ban the import of products made with forced labor.
Champion said British supply chains are “flooded with Uyghur forced labor products” because human rights due diligence is “optional” for British companies.
“To the supermarkets I say: you are all complicit in putting profits before human rights and I hope the British public does the right thing and makes their mark with their pockets and wallets,” she said.
BBC Eye’s Blood on the Shelves investigation found that a total of 17 products – most of which are own brands sold in British and German retailers – are likely to contain Chinese tomatoes – tests commissioned by the BBC World Service show.
Most Chinese tomatoes come from the Xinjiang region, where their production is linked to forced labor by Uighur and other largely Muslim minorities.
The UN accuses the Chinese state – which views these minorities as a security risk – of torture and ill-treatment.
China denies forcing people to work in the tomato sector and says workers’ rights are protected by law. It says the UN report is based on “disinformation and lies”.
Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith also responded to the BBC Eye investigation, repeating Champion’s call for an effective ban on such products, backed by criminal sanctions.
Business and Trade Minister Douglas Alexander responded to the House of Commons debates by saying he was concerned that the government was reviewing the Modern Slavery Act and would “approach the company in question to try to establish more clearly the exact facts underlying these worrying reports.”
Alexander added: “We must send a clear and unequivocal message that no company in the UK operating under the existing legal framework should have any form of forced labor in its supply chain.”
Monday’s call for new legislation comes after Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Baroness Hayman of Ullock said Defra “views labeling as a way to better inform consumers”.
[BBC]
