The New Nation - Internet Edition

BANGLADESH spinners and readymade garment exporters, according to a recent newspaper report, are set to face a blow as leading Western buyers have decided to stop importing garment products made of Uzbekistan cotton on which the industries of Bangladesh mainly depend. Shipment of Bangladeshi garment wears made of cotton imported from Uzbekistan will be rejected by several European buyers on the ground that the Central Asian country uses child labour in cotton production. Uzbekistan, the world's third largest cotton exporter, supplies 65 per cent of the total demand of the Bangladeshi spinners. Turkmenistan, Pakistan, the USA and India are the next significant suppliers, having between four and nine per cent shares in the Bangladesh market.

Marks and Spencer, a leading retailer of Bangladeshi garments in Europe and US, banned the apparels made of Uzbek cotton two weeks back, the report said quoting an official representing the company in Dhaka. Tesco, another UK-based leading retailer of Bangladeshi apparels, took similar decision one week back banning import of garment made of Uzbek cotton from September next. An official of Tesco was quoted to have said that they decided not to import apparels made of Uzbek cotton a week back and planned to reject any shipment from Bangladesh from September. What the officials of both Tesco and Marks and Spencer wanted to say is that they want child labour to be eliminated from their entire supply chain claiming that they had communicated the matter to their suppliers in Bangladesh.

Marks Spencer and Tesco work with several dozens of Bangladeshi garment suppliers who make shipments of several hundred millions readymade garments including kids wear and sweater that are sold in retailers' shops in the European and American markets. The president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association refused to accept the allegation of the buyers saying cotton harvest in Uzbekistan is a traditional festival where all Uzbeks including their children take part in plucking cotton. The International Cotton Advisory Council, the highest international forum of cotton producers and users, also endorsed the cultural aspect.

Sudden ban on Uzbek cotton will bring 'uneven and unethical pressures' on Bangladesh spinners, and then apparel manufacturers, said a leader of the Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association. It would be difficult for Bangladeshi spinners to divert sources of cotton from Uzbekistan within a short span of the period. The report mentioned also the views of the representatives of buyers saying the decision was unlikely to be reviewed; rather many more buyers from Europe and the United States would join the ban very soon. Cotton is an internationally traded commodity and its sources are not always easily identifiable. Bangladesh textile manufacturers and garment exporters have urged the foreign buyers to reconsider the decision considering both the setback here in the textile and garment sector of Bangladesh and the difficulties to be faced by Uzbekistan in exporting its cotton. Instead of putting any ban, negotiations might help find solutions for all concerned amicably.