Retailers Ban Cotton from Uzbekistan

By Eugene Gerden|February 9, 2012

Leading apparel manufacturers from Western countries are boycotting Uzbek cotton, citing the alleged use of child labor in its national cotton industry. Uzbekistan’s government, however, says the its national economy will not suffer from either the retailer boycott or the European Union’s recent decision of the to abolish the tax and customs preferences for the exports of Uzbek cotton to Europe.

The Uzbek government claims companies that boycott future cotton purchases will only be hurting themselves because they will be forced to buy cotton at higher prices, whereas Uzbekistan’s cotton industry will be able to easily shift to alternative markets.

Among the companies that will refrain from further purchases of Uzbek cotton are Swedish retailer H&M, as well as such sportswear giants as Adidas and Puma.

“Being a major consumer of cotton, we, like many other companies, take an unambiguous stand against child labor, regardless of the country,” said Henrik Lampa, H&M’s manager of the department of social responsibility.

An official representative of Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan said, “Russia has always been a major importer of our cotton, while other major sale destinations include Pakistan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. A significant part of our cotton is resold by brokers on the EU and Arab cotton exchanges. In this regard, we do not think that our economy will be significantly affected by the boycott.”