World News – AU – Who is trying to weaken US bill against forced labor in China?

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A coalition of groups calling for an end to the repression of Uyghurs in China is calling on a number of prominent companies to clarify their lobbying and other measures to amend or weaken a bill against imports of Uyghur slave labor.

Companies that have been asked to publicly disclose their activities include Apple, Nike, Walmart, Adidas, Gap, and several others.

The group, known as the Coalition to End Forced Labor in the Uyghur Region, consists of organizations such as AFL-CIO, a major association of US trade unions. the British non-profit Anti-Slavery International; Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), an independent labor rights watchdog; and several Uighur stakeholders.

The law in question is the Uyghur Prevention of Forced Labor Law, which would block products from the western Xinjiang region of China unless companies can prove that forced labor was not involved in their manufacture. Xinjiang is home to China’s predominantly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority who have been subjected to extensive repression and human rights violations, including sterilization. This led observers to compare the campaign against them to genocide. Ample evidence shows that many are being forced into detention centers under the guise of poverty reduction programs, although China denies the allegations.

Xinjiang is an integral part of the supply chains of numerous international companies. It produces goods such as textiles, electronics, toys, and plastics, and is the epicenter of China’s great cotton industry, meaning it touches the supply chains of countless clothing and footwear companies.

The bill would suggest that all products originating in the region are subject to forced labor, which would burden companies to show that this is not the case. It would also ban items from institutions participating in programs that transfer Uyghurs as workers to other parts of China.

In September it happened to the House of Representatives by a margin of 406 to 3. The next hurdle is to get past the Senate, where it probably has enough support from both parties to move forward.

United States Congressman James McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, is the author of the law and has campaigned to encourage companies that may be undermining the law. « Global corporations have known for more than two years that forced labor is being done across the Xinjiang region, » he said during a December. 15 Coalition press conference. “They should reassess their supply chains and find alternatives that don’t exploit workers or violate human rights. Instead, corporate lobbyists were hired to contact senators in an attempt to water down the strictest provisions of the Uighur Law to Prevent Forced Labor. ”

The Washington Post and the New York Times have reported that companies like Apple and Nike have been tacitly working to change the law. However, it is unclear what changes they may seek to make.

« Unsurprisingly, brands and retailers trying to influence the outcome of the legislative process have tried to cover up their activities, » said Scott Nova, WRC Executive Director, during the briefing. « There are brands that have lobbied and insisted that they are not trying to weaken the bill or thwart the bill but have not disclosed what specific changes they are seeking. ”

He added that some brands and retailers are trying to influence legislation even when what they do does not meet the legal definition of lobbying, while others are not lobbying lawmakers directly, but instead work with trade associations.

Quartz reached out to several coalition-contacted companies to disclose their activities, including Nike, Apple, Adidas, Walmart, Gap, Inditex (owner of Zara) and PVH Corp (owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein). .

A spokesman for Inditex forwarded part of a letter the company sent in response to the coalition, stating that it had not opposed the bill or requested changes, either through a trade association or lobbying firm. It also said it had not contacted any member of Congress or any committee about it.

PVH Corp said it had « taken no action by employees, lobbyists or others » to defy the law or weaken its provisions.

Nike issued a statement saying it did not oppose the Uighur Law to Prevent Forced Labor. It has been said to routinely provide insights into a wide range of public policy issues to members of Congress, congressional officials, and other government officials. ”

Adidas did not respond to whether it had lobbyed the bill, only that it never sourced goods from Xinjiang. After concerns about forced labor cotton yarn in the supply chain in 2019, it specifically advised its suppliers not to source yarn from the region.

No other company Quartz has contacted has commented. We will update this story with additional answers.

Apple previously announced to the Washington Post that it supports the goals of the legislation, and a New York Times document showed the changes it was pursuing. This included extending compliance deadlines and withdrawing a provision that publicly disclosed supply chain information and instead made it available only to congressional committees.

One organization that desires changes, although they do not publicly detail them, is the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), a large trade group with around 300 members, about 1. 000 brands represented. After the Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act passed the house, it issued a statement along with other professional associations. « We share the goals of the legislation – ending forced labor and the associated major campaign of repression – but we fear that this bill will not help us get any closer to that ultimate goal, » it said.

Many items made in Xinjiang do not travel directly to the United States. Products like cotton and textiles can go through multi-tier supply chains that take them to countries like Vietnam or Bangladesh before being shipped to American shores, making them difficult to track down. Focusing on Xinjiang alone will not solve the problem, AAFA noted.

The group claims that the bill in its current form will also be virtually impossible for companies as they have to prove the negatives of not having forced labor in their supply chains. Most just have to leave the region and punish the legal volunteers there. It is argued that a multinational coalition of countries and other stakeholders is the only way to exert enough influence over China to change its behavior on the ground in Xinjiang.

In a statement, Nate Herman, senior vice president of policy at AAFA, said it was important to end forced labor in Xinjiang, and AAFA is working to get Congress to pass these laws in a form that does goal achieved. We have proposed various changes to make the legislation enforceable, effective and to appeal to those responsible. The AAFA would not elaborate on which revisions it is seeking.

Human rights groups have argued that forced labor is so widespread in Xinjiang that companies cannot be sure that their activities in the area are free from abuse. Some accounting firms have even stopped operating in the region because they cannot do their work effectively under the strict restrictions imposed by the Chinese authorities. On Dec. . WRC’s Nova said any brand or retailer trying to dilute or eliminate the portion of the bill that believed to involve forced labor in all of Xinjiang’s products « is trying to cut the heart out of the legislation. ”

According to McGovern, the Uyghur Prevention of Forced Labor Act is intended to force China to end Uyghur forced labor in Xinjiang and to ensure that US consumers do not buy products that have been made using forced labor. « Businesses simply need to move their supply chains, » he said.

It is unclear how effectively the law would force China to end the Uyghur suppression as it is a unilateral action against one of the largest economies in the world. In the European Union, however, the pressure on lawmakers to act has increased. This week the European Parliament condemned China for Uyghur forced labor and will reportedly urge EU leaders to sanction Chinese officials responsible for abuses in Xinjiang.

Rushan Abbas, founder and executive director of Campaign for Uyghurs, a group campaigning for Uyghurs in China, offered another potential strength of US law in December. 15 briefing. « It is also a valuable example of what other nations could recreate in terms of their own complicity in importing products made using Uighur forced labor, » she said.

President-elect Joe Biden has declared that he believes the US must assert itself as the world market leader. For advocates of the law, this could be an opportunity to do just that in the campaign to end the suppression of Uyghurs in China.

Uyghurs, Xinjiang, China, European Union