Did the China Investigation Have Impact?
In large measure, yes. But in some ways, no.
Ian Urbina and Austin Brush reporting for the Outlaw Ocean Project
The reporting prompted U.S. federal agencies to ban imports, seafood sellers to sever ties with plants, a CEO to resign, and legislators to adjust laws, pressure companies, and hold hearings. Dozens of news organizations also began collaborating with Outlaw Ocean to expand the reporting. These are important developments.
But auditing and certification organizations have largely stonewalled, as have seafood companies and grocers. The industry has stepped back from answering questions about the core problems identified in the investigation. Companies have tried to redirect attention toward symptoms and away from root causes, typically by highlighting vague palliative actions and declining to provide specifics.
Federal Agencies & Lawmakers
The U.S. government has taken several big steps. In June 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), citing ties to the use of state-sponsored forced labor, added a large Chinese seafood company called Shandong Meijia Group, and two of its subsidiaries, to a federal list that prohibits further imports to the U.S. Shandong Meijia was one of ten companies that the Outlaw Ocean investigation identified as using Uyghur-forced labor. In July, the DHS added seafood to its list of high-priority sectors for enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). Undercurrent News and Seafood Source reported on the action.
Members of the U.S. Congress also got involved. In its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2025, the Senate introduced new language “prohibiting procurement and commissary sales of seafood originating or processed in China.” The NDAA is the federal law that funds the Defense Department. The Senate action came partially in reaction to a Politico piece by the Outlaw Ocean team. The story for the first time revealed ties between state-sponsored Chinese labor to seafood being served in federal prisons, public schools, and U.S. Congressional cafeterias.
A variety of U.S. lawmakers called attention to seafood imports from China and the need to re-examine the industry. This included calls for enhanced screening of seafood coming from China, expanded import monitoring that would include all seafood coming into the country, and bans on imports from two Chinese provinces identified in the investigation as hubs of forced Uyghur and North Korean labor in seafood-processing plants. U.S. lawmakers also sent letters to Sysco and Costco inquiring how these companies will ensure that future audits will adequately prevent seafood tied to Xinjiang (Uyghur) and North Korean forced labor from entering the U.S.
The investigation highlighted how much of the seafood consumed in the U.S. and Europe (including some fished in domestic waters) is tainted by Chinese forced labor, because it gets processed in plants there that rely on Uyghur or North Korean workers. Along the same lines, the investigation covered the extent to which another portion of banned seafood is discreetly entering the U.S. market. The reporting explained that despite a ban on the importation of Russian seafood into the U.S., large amounts of pollock caught in Russian waters get funneled through plants in China, where they are relabeled as of Chinese origin. In response to the investigation, the Biden administration issued an executive order closing a loophole that had allowed that to occur.
Congress also held hearings that touched on the OO investigation. The first took place in October and was hosted by the bipartisan Congressional Executive Committee on China, which was created by the White House and Congress. OO was asked to testify at this event. This hearing focused on the presence of seafood made with forced labor on Chinese ships and in China’s processing factories throughout the U.S. supply chain. The second hearing took place in April 2024. Hosted by the same committee, it brought lawmakers together to discuss the ways that social audits have failed to identify and prevent forced labor in factories in China.
U.S. State Department officials who produce the annual “Trafficking in Persons” report and U.S. Department of Labor officials who produce the annual update to the federal “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor” held several meetings with OO investigators to discuss our methodology and findings. Along the same lines, the OO team also held a half dozen meetings to debrief officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in charge of enforcing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection responsible for issuing Withhold Release Orders, and officials at the Office of Foreign Assets Control who oversee the implementation of targeted sanctions for human rights infractions.
In March 2024, members of the European Parliament sent a letter to the European Commission and the President of the European Parliament. The action was a response to a part of the investigation that OO reported on in Le Monde, which revealed ties to seafood produced by North Koreans and a European company that supplies the European Parliament. A response from the president of the European Parliament confirmed that seafood tied to Chinese plants using North Korean labor was supplied to cafeterias in European Parliament buildings. The letter also said that the relationship with the Chinese plant was reportedly terminated immediately.
The investigation was also cited during discussions in the E.U. parliament in October 2023, where lawmakers eventually voted in favor of a resolution urging China to be more transparent about its distant-water fishing fleet and its processing plants. The rapporteur of the resolution, Pierre Karleskind (France), cited the investigation in his opening remarks. Caroline Roose (France) highlighted the reporting on the use of Uyghur forced labor in Chinese seafood processing factories supplying EU companies, and public institutions, including the European Commission. Barry Andrews (Ireland) underscored how the journalism revealed how flaws in the audits used by companies enabled seafood tainted by human rights abuses to end up on the shelves of European grocery stores including Aldi, Lidl and Tesco. Izaskun Bilbao Barandica (Spain) added that the investigation highlighted the urgent need to address human rights concerns in China’s fishing industry.
Negotiators from the E.U. Parliament and Council also reached a provisional agreement on new rules to ban products made with forced labor from the E.U. market. At Parliament’s insistence, the European Commission will draw up a list of particular economic sectors in specific geographical areas where state-imposed forced labor exists. Industry publications pointed out that this provisional agreement comes after the OO investigation revealed state sponsored forced labor in Chinese seafood plants with significant buyers in the U.S. and E.U.
The Canadian government, on the other hand, has been relatively inactive. In response to the investigation, NGOs submitted legal petitions to the Canadian government calling for it to impose sanctions against seafood companies tied to Uyghur forced labor and to prohibit imports from these companies. While the U.S. has not imposed targeted sanctions as of yet, relevant authorities have begun the process of banning imports from companies tied to the investigation. The Canadian government has made no indication it will do the same. Human-rights advocates in Canada have said this silence and inaction from the Canadian government could create a potential backdoor through which imports rejected by the U.S. might re-route to Canada without issue.
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IAN URBINA is the director of The Outlaw Ocean Project, a non-profit journalism organization based in Washington D.C. that produces investigative stories about human rights, environment and labor concerns on the two thirds of the planet covered by water. Before founding The Outlaw Ocean Project, Urbina spent roughly 17 years as a staff reporter for The New York Times. He has received various journalism awards, including a Pulitzer Prize, two George Polk Awards and an Emmy. Several of his investigations have also been converted into major motion pictures.
