US to determine whether child labour is used in Indian carpets

WASHINGTON: The US has proposed to determine whether Indian carpets are produced by forced or indentured child labour, even as it added cotton and sugarcane to the already existing child labour produced list from India.

The US Department of Labor announced its initial determination with regard to Indian carpets as it released the sixth edition of the 'List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor' as mandated by the US Congress.

Stake holders have been asked to submit their comments on the proposed determination by January 30, 2015.

The US also added cotton and sugarcane to the already existing child labour produced list from India, which now has crossed the two dozen mark.

If the US Department of Labor finally makes such a determination, federal American agencies would be prevented from procuring Indian carpets.

Such a determination by the US would also badly hit sale of Indian carpets in the international markets.

According to the report released by US Department of Labor more than two dozen Indian items are produced by employing child labour.

These are bidis, brassware, bricks, carpets, cotton, embellished textiles, fireworks, footwear, garments, gems, glass bangles, hybrid cotton seed, incense, leather goods and accessories, locks, matches, rice, silk fabric, silk, thread, soccer balls, stones, sugarcane and thread/yarn.

"There's a story behind each item on these lists -- a child facing back-breaking labour without education or other opportunities for a better life or an adult trapped in a dismal job through deceit or threats," said the US Secretary of Labor Thomas E Perez.

"These lists raise awareness about child and forced labour. Through collective efforts we can, and must, work together to end these cycles of exploitation," Perez said after releasing the report.

He said 11 goods made with child labour have been added to the sixth edition of this list.

These are garments from Bangladesh, cotton and sugarcane from India, vanilla from Madagascar, fish from Kenya, fish from Yemen, alcoholic beverages, meat, textiles, and timber from Cambodia, and palm oil from Malaysia.

One good, electronics from Malaysia, has been added to the list for being produced with forced labor.

The report has on its cover page a girl child labour working in a brick kiln in West Bengal.