Tomato Paste From Xinjiang Available to Online Shoppers at Walmart, Amazon
Forbes reported that Walmart's online platform and Amazon have listings for canned tomatoes or tomato paste from the brands Nina, Gino and Zehrat Safa, and it said those brands are produced by Heibei Tomato Industry. That Chinese company says on "its website that 'raw materials come from Xinjiang,'" the article said.
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At the time of this article went to press, Zehrat Safa didn't have any products for sale on Amazon; the Nina canned tomato product was about $15 for one can, and so was unlikely to sell. Gino was selling tomato paste on Amazon. Walmart had Nina canned tomatoes, but again, so expensive they would be unlikely to sell; did have Gino tomato paste and flavor packets; and the Safa tomato paste was $69, so again, unlikely to sell.
The Forbes article also said Etsy once had these products for sale but had taken them down by the time their article went to press.
Tomato paste from Xinjiang is one of the priority enforcement sectors in the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
"This example of tomato products linked to Uyghur forced labor still finding their way onto shelves in American stores is simply unacceptable and underscores the importance of our committee’s efforts to significantly strengthen the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," House Select Committee on China ranking member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., told Forbes.