Brazil has put China’s BYD on a registry of employers who have subjected workers to conditions similar to slavery after a 2024 scandal in which Chinese workers were said to have been victims of human trafficking and abusive contracts.
The list, published by Brazil’s labour ministry, carries further reputational risk for the carmaker in its biggest market after China.
It also bars BYD from obtaining certain types of loans from Brazilian banks, but does not affect the operation of its sole auto plant in the country the workers were hired to build.
BYD did not reply to a request for comment.
Jinjiang Group, the contractor BYD used to hire the 163 workers cited in the scandal, has denied the claims. BYD has previously said it had no knowledge of any violations until reports by Brazilian media in late November.
Brazilian officials have argued BYD is ultimately responsible for its workers’ conditions as it should be supervising its contractors.
Crammed lodgings, no mattresses
Chinese workers hired by Jinjiang in Brazil had to hand over their passports to their new employer, let most of their wages be sent directly to China, and fork over an almost $900 (R15,212) deposit they could only get back after six months’ work, according to a labour contract seen by Reuters.
A raid by labour inspectors also found the labourers living crammed in lodgings without mattresses. At least 31 workers were crammed in a single house with only one bathroom and food piled up on the ground alongside personal belongings, in what inspectors said were “degrading conditions”.
The scandal caused international outrage, including in China, and led to a months-long delay in the construction of the plant.
However, BYD had appeared to have put the scandal behind it, with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attending the plant’s inauguration in October in a show of strengthening ties between Brazil and China.
The plant has since produced more than 25,000 vehicles.
Companies can avoid being included in the list by signing a deal with the government committing to change their practices and compensate workers whose rights were abused.
BYD signed a deal with labour prosecutors over the matter, but not with labour inspectors.
Firms are added to the list after all possibilities of appeal are exhausted at government level. After a company is added, it stays on the list for two years, barring a court decision to remove it.
Reuters
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