Nestlé says it will end its use of forced labour in its supply chain.
Following allegations of the use of slave labour among its fish suppliers in Thailand, the Swiss food giant commissioned a non-governmental organisation, Verité, to investigate the working conditions.
It found that forced labour and other human rights abuses were “endemic”, with workers labouring in slave-like conditions to catch and process fish for Nestlé.
"Nestlé is committed to eliminating forced labour in our seafood supply chain in Thailand," executive vice president of operations Magdi Batato said in a statement.
Verité spent three months with workers at six production sites. It said that some poor illegal migrants had been trafficked from Burma and Cambodia and then “sold” to fishing fleets to work very long hours for low wages in dreadful and dangerous conditions.
In an atmosphere of physical violence, intimidation and threats, some workers had to hand over their passports to prevent them escaping. Access to water, medicine and sometimes food was limited, the report found.
With wages withheld for months while they were at sea, some families had to resort to high-interest loans from the employers which forced them into debt bondage.
The impetus for the report was a law suit in California from pet food buyers claiming they would not have purchased the company’s Fancy Feast products if they had known Nestlé benefitted from slave labour.
Nestlé at first said it required "all of our suppliers to respect human rights and to comply with all applicable labour laws." But it acknowledged that the Thai seafood industry supply chain was multi-layered and complex, making it difficult to enforce Nestlé’s code of conduct and it commissioned the Verite investigation.
After the report was produced, Nestlé said it had launched a ten-point action plan which it will begin immediately.
The plan includes an emergency response team to quickly help individuals at risk, a system to verify working conditions on board vessels, a training programme for captains, and systems for seafood traceability.
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Both based in Switzerland, which must be significant.