The US government recently issued a restricted import of goods and has
included Indian cotton seeds, cotton and, thread/yarn based on some
published reports
The Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council has stressed the importance
of eradicating child labour in any form of employment across the value
chain, mainly importing countries preparing a country-specific restriction
list of products that use child labour.
The US government recently issued a restricted import of goods and has
included Indian cotton seeds, cotton, thread/yarn, besides other
commodities based on some published reports.
The United States Department of Labour has advised Indian companies to
monitor and ensure that no child or forced labour is employed within their
organisation or supply chain.
The textile industry, including Texprocil, Employers Federation of Southern
India, Ethical Trade Initiative and The Southern India Mills’ Association,
recently organised a Virtual National Seminar on “Eradication of Child
Labour” attended by stakeholders across the country from the textile value
chain.
Manojkumar Patodia, Chairman, Texprocil, said there is an urgent need for
eradicating child labour employment and de-listing cotton seeds, cotton,
thread and yarn from the restricted list.
Siddhartha Rajagopal, Executive Director, Texprocil, said the industry has
initiated various steps and preparing dossiers by engaging a third party
agency study, collecting data from the Department of Labour and NGOs,
adopting a code of conduct and strictly adhering to labour laws to eradicate
child labour. Sanjay Kumar, Executive Director cum Secretary, Carpet Export Promotion
Council, said it has made registration mandatory for all carpet looms and
adopt a specified code of conduct to eradicate child labour apart from
introducing various welfare facilities.
Dr K Selvaraju, Secretary-General, Southern India Mills Association, said
the labour employment Code recommended by it would facilitate the textile
manufacturing unit to protect itself from any criticism from the NGOs and
other stakeholders.
SIMA has established a Sustainability Cell that helps textile mills for
auditing and certifying an employment code, apart from assisting the mills
in compliance, he said.
SIMA has also developed a draft Code on the eradication of child labour for
the employer’s compliance, he added.
Source: The Hindu Business Line, India Tuesday, 06 April 2021