Uzbekistan Should Stay on the U.S. Department of Labor Forced Child Labor List

For Immediate Release: August 29, 2018

Washington, DC – Today, the Cotton Campaign members and allies sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) opposing the recent notice (Docket No. DOL-2018-0004) that it has made an “initial determination” to remove cotton from Uzbekistan from the List of Products Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured Child Labor Pursuant to Executive Order 13126. The letter is attached and available here.

Despite recent progress, cases of forced child labor still occurred during the 2017 harvest and local school administrators and teachers remained under pressure to force children into the fields to meet their annual cotton quotas. As a result, it is premature to remove Uzbek cotton from the EO13126 list until it can be verified that the Uzbek government has fully enacted the reforms to eliminate the drivers of forced child labor, particularly subjecting public school officials to production quotas.

The Cotton Campaign is an international, multi-stakeholder coalition of non-governmental organizations, trade unions, apparel brands and socially responsible investors dedicated to eradicating child and forced labor in cotton production.