[Berlin, 12 December] – Uzbek Forum for Human Rights has released a new report on the challenges, risks, and responsibilities faced by companies when sourcing from Uzbekistan’s cotton and textile industries with a particular focus on German companies and their obligations to respect human rights in their supply chains.

The Uzbek cotton sector still suffers from its legacy of decades of state-mandated forced labour that damaged its reputation and prompted a boycott by over 300 brands and retailers. Recent reforms have eliminated state-imposed, systematic forced labour but have not eradicated the underlying risks entirely.

As German companies increasingly look to Uzbekistan as a business destination, promoted by the Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation and the German textile association, this report assesses the challenges for German companies to conduct effective human rights due diligence to ensure compliance with supply chain legislation.

The privatization of cotton production has established “cluster” systems, combining cotton farming, processing, and textile manufacturing. However, coercive contracts, limited land rights for farmers and exploitative labour conditions persist. These include a high risk of forced labour, particularly during harvests due to government-imposed quotas disguised as “forecasts”, severe restriction of freedom of association, land insecurity, government interference and the exploitation of farmers.

“Rights violations, including Illegal land grabbing, arbitrary state interference in cotton production contracts and mandatory production quotas, reveal the lack of protections for those involved in cotton production in Uzbekistan. This is seen most starkly at the Indorama Agro cotton company, which is possibly supplying a number of German brands through other producers in Turkey or elsewhere. Effective and thorough human rights due diligence is therefore key to protect brand integrity”, said Umida Niyazova, founder and director of Uzbek Forum for Human Rights.

Companies are increasingly required under soft and hard law to conduct risk-based due diligence and identify and address human rights risks across their supply chains. However, they face significant challenges in high-risk contexts like Uzbekistan.

According to report author, Ben Vanpeperstraete, “The public communication of companies does not give confidence that they are adequately assessing or addressing risk, particularly when sourcing from Uzbekistan. Our research identified an overly broad approach to human rights due diligence, rather than a tailored approach that reflects the Uzbek context, which still poses significant risks for compliance.”

This report seeks to examine to what extent companies are fulfilling their due diligence obligations and what needs to change to ensure full compliance with German and EU legislation as well as internationally recognised responsible business conduct.

Key Findings:

  • Despite recent reforms that have eliminated state-imposed, systematic forced labour in Uzbekistan, underlying risks remain.
  • The risk of forced labour and other rights violations in Uzbekistan’s cotton sector therefore remains high.
  • Company disclosures suggest that they no longer consider forced labour or other rights violations to be a risk when sourcing from Uzbekistan and lack information on efforts to identify, prevent, mitigate and remedy.
  • Companies must adopt a human rights-based approach to due diligence which reflects the country context particularly with regard to restrictions on freedom of association, freedom of expression and civil society activity, including independent monitoring.
  • Companies should further invest in mapping and disclosing their supply chains up to and including the raw material level to ensure full compliance throughout their supply chains and improve traceability.

For press enquiries:

Lynn Schweisfurth: lynn.schweisfurth@uzbekforum.org (English and German)

Ben Vanpeperstraete: ben.vanpeperstraete@gmail.com (English and French)

Umida Niyazova: umida.niyazova@gmail.com (English, Uzbek, Russian)