For companies maintaining relationships with Chinese suppliers, there are practical difficulties. "Virtually the entire apparel industry is tainted by forced Uyghur and Turkic Muslim labor," the groups said, using an alternative spelling for Uighurs. Congressional aides say it has the backing to pass the Senate, and could be signed into law by either the Trump administration or the incoming Biden administration. Her advice to companies is to carefully consider the language they use in requests to suppliers, avoiding hot button terms like directly citing the U.S. forced-labor law and instead making more neutral requests to learn about where they are sourcing their inputs. Apples lobbying was previously reported by The Washington Post. In its March report, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute identified Apple and Nike among 82 companies that potentially benefited, directly or indirectly, from abusive labor transfer programs tied to Xinjiang. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invitedAbercrombie & Fitch, adidas, Amazon, BMW, Gap, H&M, Inditex, Marks & Spencer, Nike, North Face, Puma, PVH,Samsung and UNIQLO to respond; their responses are provided. The full list can be seen here. We will continue to post further company responses as we receive them. China has subjected the Uighurs to heavy surveillance and arbitrary detention. "It is virtually certain that many of these goods are tainted with forced labor," the letter said. The groups say it is the "largest internment of anethnic and religious minority since World War II.". The region is closer to central Asias capitals than to Chinas populous east coast, with its largest city, Urumqi, located about 2,500 miles from Shanghai. adidas, Amazon, BMW, Gap, H&M, Inditex, Marks & Spencer, Nike, North Face, Puma, PVH. But the legislation, called the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, has become the target of multinational companies including Apple whose supply chains touch the far western Xinjiang region, as well as of business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. (According to a report published in March by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute that cited state media, the factory employed around 800 Uighur workers at the end of 2019 and produced more than seven million pairs of shoes for Nike each year.). U.S. Customs currently has limited resources and, at least at first, will likely seek to focus its enforcement efforts on the worst actors in high-profile sectors including cotton, apparel, tomatoes and silica-based products, Mr. Feldman said. 2020 Alliance for American Manufacturing, Some of the Worlds Biggest Brands Depend on Forced Labor in China, International Labour Organizations eleven indicators of forced labor, Chinas Economy and Chinas Living Conditions Dont Match Up, New Report: Chinas Solar Companies Use Forced Labor, Commission Examines Critical Vulnerability in the Global Supply Chain: China. Business Insider has also contacted Gap for comment. Companies would be required to disclose information on their ties to Xinjiang to the Securities and Exchange Commission. They include Abercrombie & Fitch, Adidas, Amazon, Calvin Klein, Gap, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Nike, Patagonia, Tommy Hilfiger, Victoria's Secret, and Zara. But this myth obfuscates a multitude of tragic truths that we can no longer deny,one of these being that the goods that fill our shopping carts may be the spoils of de facto slave labor in China. It also makes a series The U.S. Chamber of Commerce declined to comment on lobbying, instead providing a letter it sent to Congress in November with seven other industry groups. The other companies mentioned did not respond immediately to Reuters' questions. The companies identified in connection to this forced labor use include international brands that span across the technology, clothing and automotive sectors. If youre ready to confront whether your purchasing supports one of the factories identified in APSIs report, you can find a thorough list of the companies that are sourcing from these factories and what products they produce in the reports appendix. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. https://www.wsj.com/articles/companies-face-compliance-challenges-under-u-s-forced-labor-law-targeting-china-11656937801. The withhold-release order will apply to products including apparel, textiles, tomato seeds, canned tomatoes and tomato sauce, and will apply at all US ports of entry. Apple disputed the claim that it had tried to weaken the legislation, saying it supported efforts to strengthen American regulations and believes the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act should become law. The solar industry's growing dependence on China's autonomous Xinjiang region for a critical raw material poses mounting risks to a wide range of companies as the U.S. government moves to confront Beijing over alleged human rights abuses there. A new report shows some of the worlds biggest solar companies work with the Chinese government to absorb workers from Xinjiang, programs that are often seen as a red flag for forced labor. It should come as little surprise that several known bad actors are also profiting from this forced labor, including CRRC Corporation Limited (CRRC) and Build Your Dreams (BYD). Forced labor stemming from human rights violations in the Xinjiang province of China has been linked to at least 83 major corporations. Demonstrators rallying last month in support of the measure in Washington. PVH added that it would end all commercial links with factories and mills, or use cotton grown, in Xinjiang in the next year. Additionally, it has been reported that they are subject to threats, arbitrary detainment and abusive working conditions. Reporting by Michael Martina, Richa Naidu, Aishwarya Venugopal and Jeffrey Dastin; editing by Jonathan Oatis, How the other half lives: luxury companies thrive, Indian private equity firm Lighthouse in talks to raise $400 million fund, Italy's Ali Group sees shelter from economic storm in Welbilt deal, Carmaker BYD to recall more Tang DM hybrids in China over battery faults, Bentley first-half profit more than doubles, boosted by customised cars, See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. Dozens of major global brands are accused of complicity in the mass repression of China's Uighur Muslim minority by sourcing their supplies of cotton products from factories exploiting the people's forced labor. Modern commerce oftendistances consumers from production. Judith Alison Lee, Business Insider has seen a copy of the letter. Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology. Roughly one in five cotton garments sold around the world contain cotton or yarn from Xinjiang, the heartland of the majority-Muslim Uighur people, a coalition of more than 180 rights group said in a letter published Thursday. ASPI estimatesat least 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred out of Xinjiang and assigned to factoriesin a range of supply chains including electronics, textiles, and automotivesunder a central government policy known as Xinjiang Aid. On Sunday, China's ambassador to the UK was confronted with damning drone footage purporting to show Uighurs blindfolded, tied up, and ready to be loaded onto trains. The Wall Street Journal and Chinese-language news media, is exacerbating tensions between the United States and China, previously reported by The Washington Post. Alongside its core work providing a platform for Human Rights advocates, the Resource Centre runs several focused programme areas and regularly releases briefings and reports on areas of particular interest. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. Human rights groups and news reports have linked many multinational companies to suppliers there, including tying Coca-Cola to sugar sourced from Xinjiang, and documenting Uighur workers in a factory in Qingdao that makes Nike shoes. In the first three quarters of 2020, Nike spent $920,000 on in-house lobbying of Congress and other federal agencies. Asked about the allegations of forced labor, Nike referred to a statement in March in which it said that it did not source products from Xinjiang and that it had confirmed that its suppliers were not using textiles or yarn from the region. They were benefiting from forced labor or sourcing from suppliers that were suspected of using forced labor," Rubio said. Looking for the presence of forced labor is part of every supplier assessment we conduct and any violations of our policies carry immediate consequences, including business termination, the statement said. It would impose high standards, barring imports of goods made in whole or in part in Xinjiang unless companies prove to customs officials that their products were not made with forced labor. Disclaimer: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre and its collaborative partners take no position on the diverse views presented in linked material within the database, nor can we guarantee the factual accuracy of all the articles and reports we make available. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre Registered Charity in England & Wales no. Coca-Cola said in a statement that it complies with all laws associated with its political activities and has adopted best-in-class disclosures practices.. Rights groups, researchers, former residents and some western lawmakers say Xinjiang authorities have facilitated forced labor by arbitrarily detaining around a million Uyghurs and other primarily Muslim minorities in a network of camps since 2016. In March 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) published a reportUyghurs for sale: Re-education, forced labour and surveillance beyond Xinjiang, whichidentified83 foreign and Chinese companies as allegedly directly or indirectly benefiting from the use of Uyghur workers outside Xinjiang through potentially abusive labour transfer programs. China-based suppliers are under heavy pressure not to cooperate with their U.S. customers efforts to perform supply-chain due diligence, said Myanmar garment worker allegations tracker, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Parallel Portal, Weekly Update 27 July | Myanmar: Garment worker abuse exposed 18 months after coup, Resistance, harassment and intimidation: Garment worker abuse under Myanmar's military rule, Operating in conflict-affected contexts: An introduction to good practice, Ukraine: Responsible business conduct in a war of aggression. This factorys corporate website cites partnerships with the companies Fila, Adidas, Puma and Nike. 1096664, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in USA and registered charitable association (e.V.) The activists named 38 companies which they say, based on credible news investigations and news reports, have products connected to forced Uighur or Turkic Muslim labor. You're browsing our English site, so by default we are only showing content in English. as well as other partner offers and accept our. Where companies responded before publication, they have included their relevant clarifications in their report. Authorities are believed to have imprisoned at least 1 million Uighurs and other minorities in so-called "reeducation camps. U.S. Customs, for example, must report directly to Congress any Xinjiang-tied products it allows into the U.S. along with the agencys reasons. This report gives evidence of the gaps in the current European Union (EU) export regulation framework for digital surveillance technologies and provides the EU institutions and its member states with actionable recommendations to improve the protections of human rights in the upcoming Recast Dual Use Regulation. The Chinese government has in recent years rounded up at least 1 million Uighurs and other Turkic and Muslim people, and put them in prison-like detention camps. This report examines the extent to which the forced labour of Uyghurs and other ethnic There are opportunities to purchase in allied countries that offset the risk.. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which went into effect last month, gives U.S. Customs and Border Protection the power to block importing goods with ties to Xinjiang, the home region of Chinas Uyghur minority group, because those goods are presumed to be made with forced labor. The government recognizes that, and will hopefully work collaboratively with the business community to address this issue both effectively and pragmatically., Write to Richard Vanderford at richard.vanderford@wsj.com, Copyright 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Sign up for our newsletter to receive our top stories based on your reading preferences delivered daily to your inbox. The recentrefusalby five international auditing firms to inspect for labor abuses in Xinjiang is a moment for the auditing and certifications industry to rethink its approach to social audits everywhere. of recommendations to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy The United States government and parliaments in countries, including Britain and Canada, have described China's policies toward Uyghurs as genocide. A new report identifies 83 global brands, including Nike, Gap, Target, Apple, H&M, BMW, Samsung and Huawei, that depend upon factories in China that utilize the forced labor of Chinese ethnic minority Uighurs. I dont think that they appropriately and properly prepared.. "These companies, sadly, were making all of us complicit in these crimes. Coca-Cola declined to comment. But for many companies, fully investigating and eliminating any potential ties to forced labor there has been difficult, given the opacity of Chinese supply chains and the limited access of auditors to a region where the Chinese government tightly restricts peoples movements. "The only way brands can ensure they are not profiting from the exploitation is by exiting the region and ending relationships with suppliers propping up this Chinese government system," said Jasmine O'Connor OBE, CEO of Anti-Slavery International, one of the letter's signatories. In a report issued in March, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, listed Nike and Coca-Cola as companies suspected of ties to forced labor in Xinjiang, alongside Adidas, Calvin Klein, Campbell Soup Company, Costco, H&M, Patagonia, Tommy Hilfiger and others. The Chinese government is conscribing Chinese ethnic minorities into forced labor. Further company comments can also be found in the articles linked below. This section contains a selection of key portals curated by our global team. in Germany (VR 38088 B). Our Morning Risk Report features insights and news on governance, risk and compliance. Lobbying disclosures show that companies have spent heavily to sway Congress on Xinjiang-related legislation, though they reveal nothing about their specific requests. In the technology sector, Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Sony and Microsoft, among others, have been connected to factories that utilize forced labor in China. Rebutting a presumption of forced labor is going to be a very challenging endeavor, he said. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8. The bill, which would prohibit broad categories of certain goods made by persecuted Muslim minorities in an effort to crack down on human rights abuses, has gained bipartisan support, passing the House in September by a margin of 406 to 3. APSI states: In factories far away from home, [detained Uighur workers] typically live in segregated dormitories, undergo organized Mandarin and ideological training outside working hours, are subject to constant surveillance, and are forbidden from participating in religious observances. Some large companies have been proactive in complying with the law, Mr. Daniels said. Some companies seem unwilling or unable to ascertain precise information about their own supply chains," she said. Its extremely difficult, Ms. Lee said. The State Department declared that the Chinese government is committing genocide and crimes against humanity through its wide-scale repression of Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in its northwestern region of Xinjiang, including in its use of internment camps and forced sterilization. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider Amnesty International investigated the exports of digital surveillance technologies from Europe to China, a country that (mis)uses its criminal law system to restrict human rights.

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