The US Department of Labor has added some textile products from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan in its list of foreign-made goods it has reason to believe are produced by child and or by forced labor that violate international standards.
It is worth noting the cotton from Uzbekistan has been removed from the list. This would pave way for free export of Uzbek cotton to Pakistan and Bangladesh. In fact the Pakistani spinners must move quickly to book cotton from the central Asian country before others move in.
The Department of Labor list is updated every two years. The current list has 467 items from 158 products coming from 77 countries.
The items added in the list include garments from Bangladesh on suspected forced labor. Ghana’s name has been included under forced labor in bovines, textiles, and rice. India is suspected of using forced labor in tea and thread & yarn production. Pakistan’s name is included on baked goods, bovines, dairy products, electronics, furniture, garments, rice, and textiles under suspension of child labor.
As a result of these additions the import of products identified against each country would be subject to the scrutiny of custom departments. The importer would have to satisfy the department that its supplier has not used force or child labor in producing that product.
