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56 I Eurasia bne May 2020
It is too early to end the boycott says the Cotton Campaign.
Human rights coalition rejects Uzbekistan’s call to end cotton boycott amid pandemic
Livelihoods of one million people
Prior to the Cotton Campaign response, the government had said in a statement: “Lifting of the cotton boycott is one of the few measures that could quickly generate much-needed jobs and support the economic wellbeing of Uzbeks dur- ing the COVID-19 crisis. Textile produc- tion alone employs 200,000 workers
in Uzbekistan; their wages support the livelihoods of one million people.”
Nate Herman, senior vice president of the American Apparel and Footwear Associa- tion, was quoted by Reuters as saying “additional assurances” of worker pro- tections were required from Tashkent.
“We recognise and are heartened by the historic progress that Uzbekistan has made toward ending forced labour and members look forward to considering sourcing from Uzbekistan,” said Herman.
“However, given brands’ zero-tolerance policies on forced labour, anti-slavery legal requirements, and the Internation- al Labour Organisation’s [ILO’s] finding that more than 100,000 people were in forced labour during Uzbekistan’s 2019 cotton harvest, brands need additional assurances of worker protections.”
The group also said that the pandemic which “has had a devastating effect on the apparel industry worldwide,
Kanat Shaku in Almaty
The Cotton Campaign coalition of human rights groups has said it would be premature to lift a long- standing global boycott of Uzbek cotton and textiles as called for by Tashkent. The government of Uzbekistan requested the move to help the country deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Uzbek officials this week also cited their progress in eliminating forced labour from cotton harvesting in asking for
the embargo, introduced in 2006, to be ended. In an open letter to the Cot-
ton Campaign, Uzbek Labour Minister Nozim Khusanov said that Uzbekistan was facing an “unprecedented dual threat” to both its economy and pub-
lic health caused by the spread of the coronavirus. The “pivotal” ending of the boycott, subscribed to by 260 apparel manufacturers and retailers around
the world, could double Uzbek textile exports to Western markets and create much-needed jobs, he noted. Officials in Tashkent have also estimated that end- ing the boycott could open the way to an extra $1bn in earnings for Uzbekistan
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from sales this year of cotton and textiles on Western markets.
But the Cotton Campaign said in an April 16 statement that only the complete eradication of forced labour along with civil society reforms such as registering
“The “pivotal” ending of the boycott could double Uzbek textile exports to Western markets and create much-needed jobs”
NGOs that monitor worker rights would spur it to lift the boycott.
“The issue is less whether to end the Pledge – but when and how – and above all, how ending it can become a catalyst for responsible sourcing and investment in a reforming Uzbekistan,” said Ben- nett Freeman, co-founder of the Cotton Campaign, which campaigns against forced and child labour in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
with steep drops in production orders, defaults on existing contracts, and lay- offs of apparel workers” amounted to an additional barrier for brands in striking new sourcing deals in Uzbekistan.
An estimated 150,000 Uzbeks have already lost their jobs due to measures introduced to stem the spread of the coronavirus and over 140,000 migrant workers have returned home, largely from Russia, with no income source.