EJF welcomes the announcement by French retail giant Carrefour that it has stopped buying prawns from the Thai supplier CP Foods after a Guardian exposé revealed slavery in the supply chain.

Carrefour, the world’s third most profitable retail group, suspended purchases from the Thai conglomerate as “a precautionary measure” while it carries out audits of its complicated supply chains, found by the Guardian to contain slavery and other serious human rights abuses.

In a further development, Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt announced that it would be returning all remaining stocks of CP Foods products.

While such swift and decisive action by major retailers represents a positive step in the right direction, EJF warned that one Thai company – even one as large as CP – should not be made a scapegoat for a Thai seafood industry whose economic model is predicated on the type of abuse and exploitation exposed by the Guardian.

"Carrefour’s decision should spur all companies selling Thai seafood to take similar action and carry out rigorous, independent audits of their entire supply chain, no matter who their suppliers are." Steve Trent, EJF's Executive Director

EJF investigations have revealed serious abuses across the sector involving a number of Thailand’s other major seafood exporting companies. In an industry that employs approximately 650,000 people – around 90 per cent of whom are migrants – slavery and abuse touch almost every corner of the largely export-driven sector.