HFPA Counsel alerts members about looming deadline to comment on child labor laws

Home Textiles Today Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 12/21/2010 2:36:43 PM

New York – The Home Fashion Products Association’s counsel issued a memo to its members this week reminding them about an approaching deadline to react to federal reports against child- and forced- labor activity overseas within the industry.
“The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued reports on their reviews of countries using child labor or forced labor,” the HFPA Counsel’s memo stated.
Comments on the reports will be accepted until Feb. 15, 2011 and they can be downloaded from:
http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/pdf/2010TVPRA.pdf.
“The reports list the goods made from child or forced labor, according to the Labor Department,” the memo continued.
These include:

• Carpets from Afghanistan;
• Textiles from Bangladesh and China;
• Silk fabric and thread from India;
• Hand-woven textiles from Ethiopia;
• Cotton from several companies, including: Argentina, Azerbaijan, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, China, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kyrgz Republic, Pakistan, Paraguay, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Zambia.

“HFPA members should ensure that they have reports and certifications from their vendors, especially in the listed countries, that the goods, silk or cotton is not harvested or produced by child labor or forced labor,” the memo concluded.
HFPA members with questions can contact Robert Leo at (212) 949-7120 or robert.leo@mscustoms.com.