Nestlé praised for admitting slave labour used in Thai supply chain

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By Euronews
Nestlé praised for admitting slave labour used in Thai supply chain

Nestlé has received praise this week over its admission on Monday that slave labour in Thailand is used in its supply chain for seafood.

PR Week quoted consultants describing the announcement that it was working to combat the problem as “brave” and “positive”.

Other campaigners said the move set an example for other companies to push the Thai government to clean up the industry.

The Geneva-based multinational commissioned an NGO to investigate following media allegations of abuses.

Verité‘s year-long inquiry concluded that forced labour was used, with migrants from Cambodia and Myanmar being sold and duped into working in Thailand’s seafood sector, kept in debt bondage and degrading conditions.

Nestlé has been under mounting pressure, facing two US lawsuits alleging that it imported pet food from a Thai supplier using slave labour, and cocoa beans from suppliers who use child labour in Ivory Coast.

The European Union threatened earlier this year to ban Thai seafood imports if the country failed to adopt adequate measures against slave labour and illegal fishing.