Marks & Spencer has signed a “call to action” to boycott forced labor products in Xinjiang, which has been welcomed by rights groups and Uighurs overseas.
Marks & Spencer signed the “call to action” on Wednesday (Jan. 6). Media reports said the Xinjiang region accounts for about 20 percent of the world’s cotton products, and Marks & Spencer uses about 40,000 tons of cotton lint from various sources each year.
A coalition of civil society and labor groups launched the “call to action” in the hope that businesses will look at their own chains and boycott forced labor products, such as cotton, that target Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The coalition says that any brand currently outsourcing garments, textiles, yarn or cotton products in Xinjiang is benefiting from human rights abuses, including forced labor.
The BBC reports that Marks & Spencer obtains its cotton from merchants certified by the Better Cotton Initiative, which ended its Xinjiang subscriptions last March, so its newly certified products and Marks & Spencer’s products no longer include cotton from Xinjiang.
But Marks & Spencer still decided to sign the “call to action”. The company said it was taking action to encourage other companies to examine their supply chains and exclude forced labor products. Richard Price, the company’s executive director, said in a statement, “The only way we can achieve large-scale change in sustainable and ethical clothing is to work with others.”
The Chinese government denies that forced labor is practiced in Xinjiang. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said last December that “there is no such thing as ‘forced labor’ as some people with ulterior motives claim” in China.
Marks & Spencer’s actions have been praised by rights groups. Jasmine O’Connor, executive director of Anti-Slavery International, said Wednesday, “We welcome Marks & Spencer’s leadership in echoing the ‘call to action’ with its public action today. We welcome the leadership shown by Marks & Spencer today in publicly echoing the Call to Action by reassuring its customers that Marks & Spencer products are not implicated in the persecution of Uighurs; the Call to Action sets very clear guidelines for brand companies to follow the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and we call on other major brand companies to follow Marks & Spencer’s practices to follow suit and immediately respond to the ‘Call to Action’ call.”
Uyghurs Abroad also applauded Marks & Spencer’s action. The Uyghur Forced Labor Coalition to End Uyghur, which launched the “Call to Action,” praised the fact that “many brands and retailers, including major international fashion brands, have decided privately to respond to the Coalition’s ‘Call to Action’ but have not yet publicly announced, however, Marks & Spencer is the first international retail giant to make a public statement.”
The chairman of the Norwegian Uyghur Community Communication Committee, Muatl. -Muetter Iliqud said, “The Uyghur community demands that brands take real action to end their relationship with Uyghur forced labor, not just empty promises; brands must take immediate action to comply with the coalition’s ‘call to action’ steps to ensure they do not profit from Uyghur forced labor.”
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