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Article

5 Feb 2021

Author:
The Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region

USA: Coalition demands companies to disclose lobbying against Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act; includes company responses

…[T]he Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region (Coalition) has written to 17 leading consumer companies - adidas, Amazon, Apple, Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola, Gap, Heinz, Inditex, Kohl’s, L Brands, Nike, Nordstrom, PVH, Ross, Target, TJX and Walmart – demanding that they come clean about their stance on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (S.3471).

The bill is designed to end the use of Uyghur forced labor in corporate supply chains by banning all imports with content from… Xinjiang … unless the brand importing the product can prove it was not made with forced labor. The bill takes unprecedented steps to enforce already existing US laws on trade in goods produced with forced labor. On September 22, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act …

In response to growing bi-partisan support for the bill, and mounting pressure from Uyghur, human, and labor rights groups to divest from the Uyghur Region, corporations— such as Apple, Nike, and Coca-Cola— are reportedly lobbying the U.S. Senate to weaken or halt the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act…

[The Coalition is asking each of the companies to disclose its position and actions concerning the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, including whether it supports the Act without amendment, is lobbying against the Act (and if so, how much money is being spent on these efforts), is advocating for changes to the Act, or is a member of a trade association which is lobbying for changes to the legislation. See here for the detailed request.]

Company responses to the End Uyghur Forced Labour Coalition:

  • Apple, Inditex, Nike and PVH provided responses to the Coalition’s disclosure request.
  • Adidas, Amazon, Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola, Gap, Heinz, Kohl’s, L Brands, Nordstrom, Ross, Target, TJX and Walmart have not provided responses to the Coalition’s disclosure request.

Part of the following timelines

China: 83 major brands implicated in report on forced labour of ethnic minorities from Xinjiang assigned to factories across provinces; Includes company responses

China: 83 major brands implicated in report on forced labour of ethnic minorities from Xinjiang assigned to factories across provinces; Includes company responses

China: Mounting concerns over forced labour in Xinjiang

USA: Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act comes into effect