List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor

There are reports that children ages 6-17 are forced to produce cotton in Benin. Cotton is grown primarily in the north, such as in Banikoara, and according to NGOs and international organizations, many of the children are trafficked or migrate to this area from other parts of the country, or from Burkina Faso or Togo. Some children are lured by traffickers with false promises about working conditions or terms. Some children work on year-long contracts and are not allowed to leave until the end of the year. They are paid only at the end of the contract, once the cotton is sold, but most children report that they do not receive their full payment, and some are not paid at all. Children usually live with their employer, and do not receive sufficient food. 

There are reports of children ages 10-17 producing cotton under conditions of forced labor in Burkina Faso. According to an NGO report containing the most recently available data on the eastern region of the country, it is estimated that as many as 50 percent of all boys aged 10 and above migrate or are trafficked to work for a year; most work on cotton farms in Tapoa or Kompienga. Children are also trafficked from around the country to work on cotton farms in Houet and Tuy provinces. Some children are forced to sow, weed, and harvest the cotton in hazardous conditions; some work under threats of abuse or withholding of payment. They usually live with their employer, and do not receive sufficient food. These children are lured by recruiters or traffickers with false promises of payment or gifts such as a bicycle. The children work on 12 or 17 month contracts and are prohibited from leaving to return home until the end of the contract. They are paid only when the cotton is sold and they have completed their contract, but most report that they do not receive their full payment, and some receive no payment at all. 

There are reports that children are forced to pick cotton in China. Reports from an NGO and the U.S. Government indicate that children in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and in Gansu province are mobilized through schools and required by provincial regulations to work during the autumn harvest. According to the most recently available estimates, between 40,000 and 1 million students are mobilized annually for the harvest, beginning as early as the third grade. Most children are paid little if at all, after deductions for meals, transportation, and payments to the school. These students are required to pick daily quotas of cotton or pay fines, and performance in the cotton harvest is assessed for the students' promotion to higher grade levels. 

There are reports that children ages 14-17 and some as young as 7 are forced to work during the annual cotton harvest in Tajikistan. Monitoring teams discover multiple cases of compulsory mobilization across several districts of the country each year. In these cases, school officials mobilize classes to work in the harvest and teachers supervise them in the fields. Some children receive threats regarding exams, grades, and even expulsion from school for refusal to work. The children are typically sent to the fields after class hours. Farmers negotiate directly with the schools to mobilize the students to work, and the schools may keep some or all of the children's wages. Some of the children are required to pick a quota of 66 pounds of cotton daily. 

There are reports that children, especially girls ages 6-14, are forced to produce hybrid cottonseed in India. Cottonseed production, and cottonseed farms with bonded child laborers, are reported to be concentrated in the state of Andhra Pradesh. According to NGO reports, between 400,000 and 450,000 children are working in the production of hybrid cottonseed, many working as forced or bonded labor. Some of these children are bonded to their employer, forced to work to pay off the debt of advanced payments made to their parents. Some children are forced to work with toxic pesticides. 

ILAB has reason to believe that cotton thread/yarn, cotton textiles, and cotton garments produced in China are made with an input produced with forced labor—specifically cotton harvested in China. Cotton from China is on ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor for forced labor, child labor, and forced child labor. About 85% of China’s cotton and 20% of the world’s cotton is produced in the XUAR, where research has shown it is harvested and processed under conditions of forced labor. In China, this cotton is spun into cotton thread/yarn and textiles and may be mixed with cotton from other sources. Manufacturers in China source large volumes of cotton fabrics containing Xinjiang origin cotton to produce finished garments. It is likely that products of Xinjiang-origin cotton produced further downstream, such as garments, textiles, and other cotton-based products, may be produced with an input produced with forced labor.

ILAB has reason to believe that cotton thread/ yarn, cotton textiles, and cotton garments produced in China are made with an input produced with forced labor—specifically cotton harvested in China. Cotton from China is on ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor for forced labor, child labor, and forced child labor. About 85% of China’s cotton and 20% of the world’s cotton is produced in the XUAR, where research has shown it is harvested and processed under conditions of forced labor. In China, this cotton is spun into cotton thread/yarn and textiles and may be mixed with cotton from other sources. Manufacturers in China source large volumes of cotton fabrics containing Xinjiang origin cotton to produce finished garments. It is likely that products of Xinjiang-origin cotton produced further downstream, such as garments, textiles, and other cotton-based products, may be produced with an input produced with forced labor.

There is evidence that children ages 5 to 14 are involved in the weaving of textiles in Ghana. Based on an analysis of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, an estimated 23,856 child laborers are involved in the weaving of textiles. There are numerous health and safety issues associated with the textile industry. These hazards include chemical exposure from the processing and dyeing of materials, exposure to cotton and other organic dusts, musculoskeletal stresses, and noise exposure. The release of this survey demonstrates the Government of Ghana’s commitment to addressing child labor and its acknowledgement that data collection is vital to the design and implementation of sound policies and programs.

ILAB has reason to believe that cotton thread/ yarn, cotton textiles, and cotton garments produced in China are made with an input produced with forced labor—specifically cotton harvested in China. Cotton from China is on ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor for forced labor, child labor, and forced child labor. About 85% of China’s cotton and 20% of the world’s cotton is produced in the XUAR, where research has shown it is harvested and processed under conditions of forced labor. In China, this cotton is spun into cotton thread/yarn and textiles and may be mixed with cotton from other sources. Manufacturers in China source large volumes of cotton fabrics containing Xinjiang origin cotton to produce finished garments. It is likely that products of Xinjiang-origin cotton produced further downstream, such as garments, textiles, and other cotton-based products, may be produced with an input produced with forced labor.