Brazil Adds 169 Employers to Forced-Labor Blacklist, Including BYD and Amado Batista

Overview

• Brazil’s labor ministry updated its semiannual “dirty list” with 169 additions, bringing the registry to about 613 employers and removing 225 that completed the two-year term.
• BYD was listed over abuses at its Camaçari factory build, where authorities rescued 163 Chinese workers and reported crowded housing, excessive shifts, and irregular migration.
• The automaker ended its contract with the contractor Jinjiang and signed a R$ 40 million conduct-adjustment deal in January 2026, yet it remains on the registry after a final ruling.
• Singer and landowner Amado Batista was added for violations on two Goianápolis properties involving 14 workers, with records of long days and poor lodging, while his team denies rescues and cites a TAC and fixes.
• The newly listed cases accounted for 2,247 worker rescues nationwide, with the most new entries in Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Bahia, and Paraíba, and China’s foreign ministry said Chinese companies must follow Brazilian labor laws.