Child labour call over cotton firms

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"111265417"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"2">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><p><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;londonglossy&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2010&sol;12&sol;child-labour-call-over-cotton-firms&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full" title&equals;"The Government was urged to investigate two British cotton traders accused of breaching international guidelines on child slavery" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;londonglossy&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2010&sol;12&sol;min-child-labour-call-over-cotton-firms&period;jpg" alt&equals;"The Government was urged to investigate two British cotton traders accused of breaching international guidelines on child slavery"&sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Government has been urged to investigate two British cotton traders accused of breaching international guidelines on child slavery&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights &lpar;ECCHR&rpar; has filed complaints in the UK against Cargill Cotton and ICT Cotton&comma; calling for an investigation into whether the companies &&num;8220&semi;have contributed substantially to maintaining the use of child and forced labour in the Uzbek cotton production&&num;8221&semi;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The ECCHR believes the companies have broken Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development &lpar;OECD&rpar; guidelines by purchasing Uzbek cotton harvested through forced child labour&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Cargill Cotton said it had raised concerns over child labour with the Uzbek government and that it was important to find &&num;8220&semi;sustainable solutions&comma; whilst fostering responsible economic development&&num;8221&semi;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Hundreds of thousands of children are forced to work in Uzbekistan&&num;8217&semi;s cotton harvest each autumn&comma; according to information set out in the complaint documents&period; They spend two to four months picking cotton&comma; with those who fail to meet their quotas punished with low grades and beatings&period; Families who do no co-operate may have their gas&comma; electricity and water services cut off&comma; as well as suffering physical violence&comma; arrest and prosecution&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Uzbekistan is the third biggest exporter of cotton in the world&comma; with exports bringing in over one billion US dollars a year&period; The industry is controlled by the authoritarian state&comma; which orders school closures to mobilise children for the harvest&comma; and is the only buyer for private growers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The complaint states&colon; &&num;8220&semi;Although forbidden by Uzbek law&comma; the industrial system of harvesting cotton is founded on the systematic and exhaustive use of child and forced labour&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Joanna Ewart-James of Anti-Slavery International said&colon; &&num;8220&semi;While cotton traders continue to buy Uzbek cotton it remains almost impossible to ensure that the clothes we are wearing are not linked to children in slavery&period; Cotton-traders need to accept their responsibility not to provide incentives for forced labour to continue in Uzbekistan&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to the complaints&comma; the two British companies were linked to Uzbekistan through branch offices in Tashkent and partnerships with Uzbek state-owned merchants&period; The OECD complaints are part of a pan-European campaign targeting seven cotton traders&comma; with similar complaints filed in Germany&comma; France&comma; and Switzerland&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Cargill Cotton said it was concerned by the claims of enforced labour&period; A spokesman said&colon; &&num;8220&semi;We do not accept the use of illegal&comma; abusive or enforced labour in any of our operations and we abide by the laws in the countries in which we operate&period; We have raised concerns about abusive or enforced child labour at meetings with representatives from the government of Uzbekistan&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div style&equals;"padding-bottom&colon;15px&semi;" class&equals;"wordads-tag" data-slot-type&equals;"belowpost">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div id&equals;"atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68edcf8f3b8c2">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<script type&equals;"text&sol;javascript">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &equals; 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