SSA calls for Indian shrimp to be added to forced/child labour lists

SSA’s request is based on the publication of reports regarding labour abuses in the Indian shrimp industry. Specifically, in the Corporate Accountability Lab’s “Hidden Harvest: Human Rights and Environmental Abuses in India’s Shrimp Industry”, detailing the results of its three-year investigation into labour practices at all levels of the Indian shrimp supply chain.

It also highlighted an Associated Press story that found conditions in the industry that it calls “dangerous and abusive”, as well as the Outlaw Ocean Project’s “India Shrimp: A Growing Goliath” story, derived partly from the actions of whistleblower Joshua Farinella, who has made public documentation indicating that an Indian exporter held workers against their will on the grounds of its processing facility.

SSA said that as importers have continued to profit from the widespread suffering caused by exploitation in India’s shrimp industry, the federal government must act. 

It also explained that while the organisation has previously asked for products to be added to List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, this is the first time it has requested that a product be added to ILAB’s List of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor. 

That request is based on the discovery that Indian shrimp is being shipped to the United States under the “Freedom’s Choice” label, a brand sold in Defence Commissaries at US military bases around the world, it said.

“Enough is enough,” said John Williams, SSA Executive Director. “ILAB’s reports already recognise that no country in the world presents a greater risk of child and forced labour than India. It is well past time for the federal government to recognise what is obvious to everyone that looks – the ‘Product of India’ label on bags of shrimp in your local grocery store is a mark of unimaginable human suffering.”

SSA has also commended senators Garret Graves and Mary Sattler Peltola for urging President Biden to stop all imports of Indian shrimp into the United States until the Administration “can make a coordinated, whole-of-government effort to protect the American seafood supply”.

Citing the reports of Corporate Accountability Lab, The Outlaw Ocean Project, and the Associated Press, Graves and Peltola demanded action to address the confirmation of severe food safety issues and labour violations in Indian shrimp processing facilities. 

Their letter to Biden also explained that concerns regarding Indian shrimp existed well before the issuance of these reports.

Closing the letter, the senators wrote: “It is imperative that your Administration take swift action to protect American consumers. We urge you to implement a ban on the import of Indian shrimp until the situation can be further analysed. Our shrimpers here at home … can help fill the void and provide safe and healthy shrimp to the American market while we work to ensure the safety of our seafood supply.”

Commenting on the request in a press release, Graves explained: “We are fighting to protect free and fair trade by ensuring that foreign farmed imports aren’t given an unfair advantage while also threatening Americans’ health. Meanwhile, American shrimpers follow all the rules to keep our health and fisheries safe, and wild, healthy American shrimp are being boxed out of US markets. We need to be doing everything we can to stop bad imports from reaching consumers, especially when we have high-quality, healthy shrimp right here at home.”

Peltola added: “Alaska may not be a major producer of shrimp, but we rely on seafood in a similar way to communities along the Gulf of Mexico… Congressman Graves and I have spoken at length about our domestic seafood industries being hurt by a flood of imported and unhealthy seafood products – I’m proud to co-lead his letter to support American shrimpers.”