Following a recent exposé by British newspaper the Guardian, French retailer Carrefour has stopped buying prawns from Thai supplier CP Foods.

Carrefour has 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.

Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt has also announced that it would be returning all remaining stocks of CP Foods products.

However, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has warned that while such swift and decisive action by major retailers represents a positive step in the right direction, 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.

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% of whom are migrants – slavery and abuse touch almost every corner of the largely export-driven sector.

“Carrefour’s announcement is welcome news and shows that European retailers are finally waking up to the severity of the abuse in Thailand’s seafood industry,” said Steve Trent, executive director of EJF. “However, CP is just one part of a problem that plagues the entire sector. All companies sourcing seafood from Thailand should be under no illusions that they are selling products tainted by slavery.”

Mr Trent said that all companies selling Thai seafood should take similar action and carry out rigorous, independent audits of their entire supply chain, no matter who their suppliers are.

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