US lawmakers call on Biden administration to impose Magnitsky sanctions against Chinese companies

February 16, 2024

A group of U.S. lawmakers has called on U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen to impose Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (GloMag) sanctions on Chinese companies named in the October 2023 Outlaw Ocean Project report on forced labor in Chinese processing facilities.

U.S. representatives Jared Huffman, Mike Gallagher, Raul Grijalva, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Betty McCollum, James Moylan, Josh Gottheimer, Jill Tokuda, Marry Peltola, Julia Brownley, and Delia Ramirez all signed the letter, which urged the executive branch of the federal government to impose sanctions on the Chinese companies.

“The abuses described in the submission by the Outlaw Ocean Project in collaboration with a human rights NGO are part of a larger pattern of behavior by the Chinese Communist Party, which continues to commit genocide against China’s Uyghur population,” their letter stated. 

The Outlaw Ocean Project report revealed strong evidence that members of the Uyghur ethnic minority were forced to work in a number of Chinese seafood processing facilities making products later sold in the U.S. 

The letter follows a formal filing by an NGO calling for the federal government to impose GloMag sanctions against the companies, citing the Outlaw Ocean report. The NGO, which requested anonymity to protect its team of activists, confirmed the filing to SeafoodSource in early January, and by law, the U.S. government is required to consider credible information presented by an NGO.

In their separate requests, both the U.S. elected officials and the NGO called for GloMag sanctions against Yantai Sanko Fisheries; Yantai Longwin Foods; the Chishan Group, which includes Shandong Haidu and Rongcheng Haibo; the Shandong Meija Group, which includes Rizhao Meijia Aquatic Foodstuff, Rizhao Jiayuan Foodstuff, and Rizhao Meijia Kayuan Foods; Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Foodstuffs; the Rongsense Group, including Rizhao Rirong Aquatic Products and Rizhao Rongxing; and Xinjiang Zhongtai Zhihui Modern Service.


By:  Chris Chase
Source: Seafoodsource