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Newsnight investigation: Cotton picked by children appears in UK high street clothes
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An investigation for tonight's Newsnight on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Two has found that the government
of Uzbekistan uses schoolchildren to pick cotton – and that cotton often
finds its way into clothes sold in British stores such as Asda, Matalan
and Burton.
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Uzbekistan is the world's second largest exporter of cotton, a trade
which is controlled by the state, and merchants claim that 90%
cent of its output is hand picked.
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Human rights groups estimate some
450,000 children are shut out of schools and working in its cotton
fields every harvest, despite the government's stance that child labour
is outlawed.
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Newsnight filmed a field full of school children, some as young as nine,
hard at work and also witnessed police marshalling hundreds of children
onto buses bound for the cotton fields.
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One boy working in the fields
told Newsnight that he and his friends would not go to school until
November. He said he picked up to 70 kilos of cotton a day.
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Another said
he was getting paid just two pence per kilo – 40% less than
officials in the capital said cotton pickers were supposed to be paid.
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Western traders export most of this cotton to manufacturers in Asian
countries such as Bangladesh. There, it is mixed with yarns from other
sources or materials before being turned into clothing which is shipped
around the globe.
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The industry claims that the mixing of materials from
many sources makes it impossible to trace cotton back to the field.
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But Newsnight's investigation has traced cotton in garments worn in the
UK from the clothes rack to the cotton field.
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Newsnight has found two
factories in Bangladesh that make clothes for the UK market, including
ASDA's George Brand, and source some of their cotton from Uzbekistan.
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The Delta Group, with a production capacity of 1.5 million garments per
month, said Matalan was its major UK client.
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Eighty per cent of its
cotton comes from Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries.
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The
Radiance group, which said it used yarn supplied to it by a company
using Uzbek cotton, makes clothes for Burton.
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There was other evidence that western companies were making clothing in
Uzbekistan out of Uzbek cotton.
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At a trade fair Newsnight found a Topman
hoodie with "Made in Uzbekistan" on the label.
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In a statement ASDA said: "We're extremely concerned that child labour
may have been used to pick cotton that could have been used in fabric
supplied to factories in Bangladesh. And that ultimately this may have
been used in making clothes sold by George."
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"We're calling on other retailers and the UK Government to join us in
encouraging the authorities in Uzbekistan to take urgent action to
improve working conditions in the cotton industry."
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Matalan confirmed that Delta in Bangladesh was one of its suppliers but
added: "Matalan does not designate where its suppliers supply from ... we
do not audit the thousands of suppliers to our suppliers, as some simple
garments of clothing we take for granted, and wear each day, contain up
to 50 different components."
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In the case of Topman, its owner Sir Philip Green confirmed that his
company had ordered a trial run of the hoodie seen at the fair, but said
they did no further business with the supplier.
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Sir Philip, who also
owns Burton, said: "Our companies buy garments and do not usually have visibility of the
source of the raw materials.
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"We rely on our suppliers to source all raw
materials, and to operate according to our detailed Code of Conduct
which includes the statement that 'child labour must not be used'...
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"We
would not be supportive of using cotton in products where the cotton has
been picked in the manner you allege."
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"... we are now conducting our own investigation with our garment suppliers
into the source of cotton fibres used in our garments. This is a
complex issue and an immediate boycott might be premature until we have
more detail."
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Plexus, a British company with an office in Uzbekistan, confirmed to
Newsnight that they buy some Uzbek cotton.
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According to their website
the company's "hallmarks are integrity and awareness" and it prides
itself on having "a great depth of experience and knowledge of the whole
region".
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In a statement, they told Newsnight: "Plexus Cotton is a company that
places great emphasis on integrity and fairness. We are committed to
sharing the wealth we create with our partners, employees and the
communities in which we operate.
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"Plexus Cotton currently sources only a tiny fraction of its total
cotton trade through Uzbekistan. We have been categorically assured by
the Uzbekistan Government that the use of child labour by the Uzbekistan
Government is prohibited.
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"If evidence is produced to show that this is
untrue, we will immediately cease trading in Uzbekistan cotton."
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In a statement, the Uzbekistan Government told Newsnight that the
Republic adheres to international conventions on child labour and
"forbids any form of child labour on cotton fields and other
agricultural sectors" and that the "minimal age for age for employment
[is] from 16 years".
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