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Aussie supermarkets caught up in Thai seafood company's child labor claims

Xinhua, December 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

Three of Australia's leading supermarket chains have been revealed to stock seafood from a Thai company accused of using child labor.

The Associated Press on Tuesday reported that Coles, Woolworths and German brand Aldi have been importing frozen prawns from Thai Union seafood company, which has been revealed to employ child labor, with some workers telling reporters they felt threatened by violence if they didn't cooperate.

The workers, mainly from Myanmar, are allegedly locked in factories and are unable to leave for up to 16 hours every day, with many working without or with little pay in order to clear debts or in some cases simply return home.

In the wake of the allegations, all three supermarket chains have said they would be launching their own investigations, with Woolworths telling Fairfax Media that it would be "seeking advice" about how to proceed with an inquiry.

"We will investigate this further with our supplier and seek advice from our NGO partners," a spokesperson from Woolworth said.

Coles took a similar stance, with its statement reading "Coles takes a proactive approach to labour standard issues and works closely with our suppliers, key NGOs and stakeholder groups including the International Labour Organisation to engage on these issues."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Aldi said the company would "review the Associated Press investigative report as soon as it is released".

All three supermarket chains are expected to strip the products from their stores' shelves, something which could lead to a prawn shortage in the lead up to the Christmas period, the busiest time of year for seafood in Australia.

Following the news, Thai Union CEO Thiraphong Chansiri released a statement describing the investigative report as a major "wake-up call" for the Thailand-based company.

"Any illegal or unethical labour practices are unacceptable to Thai Union, and we are committed to taking the necessary actions to ensure products in our supply chain are brought to market in a way that is consistent with our values to operate with integrity and with the utmost respect for human rights, nothing less will be tolerated," Thiraphong said on Tuesday.

He added that Thai Union would be bringing all of its seafood processing operations back "in-house" to Thailand to ensure proper work standards are upheld. Endit