Cotton Campaign Ends Global Boycott of Uzbek Cotton

The International Coalition Cotton Campaign announced ending its call for a global boycott of Uzbek cotton.

The announcement comes as Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, a frontline partner of the Cotton Campaign, releases its report finding no central government-imposed forced labor in the 2021 harvest.

“After encouraging hundreds of companies to avoid Uzbek cotton over the past 12 years, we’re happy to announce the time has come to lift the Uzbek Cotton Pledge,” said Patricia Jurewicz, CEO of Responsible Sourcing Network and Cotton Campaign co-founder. "Companies now need to conduct due diligence and make their own policy decisions regarding sourcing in Uzbekistan.”

In 2009, 331 brands and retailers, including C&A, Gap Inc., H&M, Levi Strauss & Co., Tesco and Walmart, signed the Uzbek Cotton Pledge. Meanwhile, the Joint Chamber of Commerce (JCC) asserted that it is ready to cooperate with partners from Uzbekistan in order to promote the development of the textile industry in this country.

The lifting of the boycott allowed Uzbekistan to become now an attractive supplier of cotton fabrics, and helped to increase the exports of textile products and create new job opportunities.

After Shavkat Mirziyoyev became Uzbekistan's president in 2016, Tashkent gradually adopted laws to eliminate child labor and forced labor, and banned regional authorities from sending students and public sector workers to pick cotton.