A trade in textiles protocol will be added to an existing EU-Uzbekistan partnership agreement after it was approved by members of the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament on Thursday.
MEPs expressed appreciation for the country’s efforts to eradicate child labour, but urged further action to end all other forms of forced labour during the country’s cotton harvest.
The draft recommendation was passed by 31 votes to 4 with 2 abstentions.
Trade MEPs gave their consent to include textiles in the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) concluded between Uzbekistan and the EU in 1999. This is aimed at encouraging the Uzbek government to continue along the path towards full eradication of all forms of forced labour and to further strengthen its cooperation with the EU.
In a separate non-legislative resolution MEPs welcomed the fact that Uzbekistan has started to work with the ILO, highlighting that it has almost fully eradicated child labour in the past three years. However, they urge authorities to step up a national awareness-raising campaign to wipe out the practice entirely.
Members also expressed appreciation for the progress Uzbekistan has made regarding adult forced labour in cooperation with the ILO.
