Date of publication: September 21, 2008
Source: Ethical Corporation
» http://www.ethicalcorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=6093 [1]
By Sean Ansett
Just a few days ago, the Uzbekistan Government announced that it will not allow the practice of forced child labor to take place during the cotton harvest season this fall.
This week's very welcome announcement that Uzbek Prime Minster Shavkat Mirziyayev has signed a decree to implement two recently signed ILO conventions regarding child labor by the government has been met with mixed reaction.
There is a distinct lack of trust among many observers as to whether the measures will be implemented. Uzbekistan's new law now defines the legal minimum working age as 16.
The country is one of the world's major cotton producers and child labour is well known to be widespread in the country, sanctioned and organized by the government itself.
Is this new announcement a real measure to stop this horrendous practice? Or is it merely a smokescreen to "neutralize" a growing number of stakeholders and critics calling for a boycott of Uzbekistan's "white gold". Cotton is a key earner of hard currency for the country.
Many large Western companies like Levis, Tesco and Wal-Mart already boycott Uzbek cotton, where they can trace it, due to concerns about forced child labour highlighted by activists.
The ethical problems of Uzbek cotton have been well reported in Ethical Corporation articles for several years.
An awareness campaign led by socially responsible investment funds, environmental, trade unions labor and human rights NGOs to raise awareness to forced and child labor practices in Uzbekistan has effectively raised the profile of this issue on the international stage.
Recently, a coalition of four US trade associations asked the government of Uzbekistan "to take decisive and immediate actions to end the use of forced child labor in the cotton fields."
In addition, the associations went a step further by warning the government that if the practice does not stop they may follow the path of some of the brands and exclude Uzbek cotton sourcing throughout their membership.
Unusual bedfellows help shift the agenda
This responsible lobby and engagement strategy is an excellent example of how working in innovative coalitions of unlikely allies with market based incentives can harness the power of each sector and create strong platforms for effective collective action.
Clearly, the Uzbekistan government has been feeling the global pressure.
The government’s announcement also anticipates the Uzbekistan Cotton Fair in mid-October which will try to woo international cotton buyers, global banks that finance the trade and industrial machine makers that sell equipment to support the industry.
So is the statement a PR ploy developed to improve the country's image and ensure that the lucrative harvest does not sit on markets as "dirty" cotton?
Or is the government seriously going to address the issue and improve the lives of thousands of children who are taken from school during the cotton harvest and forced to labor on the fields?
It is too early to tell. The Uzbekistan government has a lot of trust building to do since they have denied these allegations for years.
There are already unconfirmed reports coming out from the country that in some regions children have been brought back into the fields to work this season.
In the government's statement there is no mention of the continued use of forced labor among youths and adults, nor how the government will assure that the practice of forced child labor has in fact stopped.
The Uzbekistan government should immediately invite the International Labor Organization, and other relevant stakeholders, to monitor the harvest this fall in order to provide independent assurance of the program’s implementation.
They should also invite these groups to make recommendations on how to sustain decent work practices in the fields over the long term.
The Uzbekistan case has also moved the goal posts regarding stakeholder expectations for supply chain labor standards and the need for effective tracing mechanisms to ensure good labor conditions from point of sale back to the farm.
If companies want to talk supply chain sustainability then they will need to develop approaches with other industry actors down the chain to address the array of challenging social and environmental issues.
Cotton production could be the apparel and textile industry's key material issue over the next 5-10 years.