The European Parliament adopted by 603 votes to 8,
with 11 abstentions, an interim report on the draft Council
decision on the conclusion of a Protocol to the Partnership and
Cooperation Agreement establishing a partnership between the
European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and
Uzbekistan, of the other part, amending the Agreement in order to
extend the provisions of the Agreement to bilateral trade in
textiles, taking account of the expiry of the bilateral textiles
Agreement.
Parliament states that it will only consider the
consent if the ILO observers have been granted access by the Uzbek
authorities to undertake close and unhindered monitoring and have
confirmed that concrete reforms have been implemented and yielded
substantial results in such a way that the practice of forced
labour and child labour is effectively in the process of being
eradicated.
In its interim resolution, Parliament recalls that the
Union is one of the main importers of cotton from Uzbekistan,
estimates of which range from importing 6% to 23% of Uzbek cotton
exports over the past ten years. It recalls that on the basis of
the principles and objectives of the Union's external action, the
Union has the moral responsibility to use its leverage, as
one of the main trading partners and a major importer of cotton
from Uzbekistan, to stop the use of forced child labour in this
country. Therefore, the Protocol cannot be treated as a purely
technical agreement, as long as human rights concerns, such as
forced child labour, are raised specifically with regard to cotton
harvest.
Parliament also underlines:
- the well-documented allegations and broad consensus
among the United Nations bodies, the UNICEF, the representative
organizations of employers and workers and NGOs stating that,
despite the legal commitments made by the Government of Uzbekistan
to eradicate forced child labour, in practice, year after year an
estimated number of 0.5 to 1.5 million school-aged children are
still forced to take part in the hazardous work in the cotton
harvest for up to three months each year;
- independent international observers have gathered
evidence of forced labour and in particular forced child labour
as a systematic and organised practice involving pressure on
teachers and families with the participation of the police and
security forces;
- so far the Government of Uzbekistan has refused access
to independent monitoring missions the purpose of which was to
bring out the facts and provide information on the duration of the
Autumn harvest period, the working health conditions of students,
their ages and where relevant the risk of punishments for
disobedience.
Against this background, Parliament requests the
Council and the Commission to:
- strongly condemn the use of forced child labour in
Uzbekistan;
- strongly support the ILO’s call on the Government
of Uzbekistan to accept a high-level tripartite observer mission
that would have full freedom of movement and timely access to all
locations and relevant parties, including in the cotton fields, in
order to assess the implementation of the ILO
Convention;
- urge the Uzbek President Islam Karimov to allow an ILO
monitoring mission into the country to address the issue of forced
child labour practices;
- urge the Government of Uzbekistan to allow an ILO
monitoring mission and to ensure that the practice of forced labour
and forced child labour is effectively in the process of being
eradicated at national, viloyat and local level;
- remind the Uzbek authorities that despite the fact
that human rights principles are included in the text of the
Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan and that Uzbekistan has
signed and ratified most UN conventions relating to human rights,
civil and political rights and the rights of the child, this formal
set of legal acts still needs to be implemented
effectively;
- contribute through policy dialogue and assistance
programmes to market-oriented reforms of Uzbekistan's agricultural
sector;
- ensure that pursuing the end to the practice of
forced child labour in cotton production will be a priority of the
Union human rights strategy in the Union Delegation in
Tashkent. Members insist that this should be reflected in policy,
monitoring, reporting, staffing and financial
assistance;
- study and if appropriate submit to the European
Parliament a legislative proposal on an effective traceability
mechanism for the goods being produced through forced child
labour;
- support the Parliament’s call to cotton traders
and retailers to desist from buying cotton produced by forced child
labour from Uzbekistan and to notify consumers and all of their
suppliers of this commitment.
Parliament stresses that if ILO monitoring bodies
conclude that serious and systematic breach of Uzbekistan's
obligations exists, the Commission should consider initiating an
investigation into the temporary withdrawal of the GSP if all other
requirements are met.
Parliament outlines the importance of the relations
between the Union and Uzbekistan on the basis of the PCA and its
democratic and human rights principles. It reiterates the Union's
commitment to further and deepen bilateral relations, which include
trade, as well as all areas related to democratic principles,
respect for human and fundamental rights and the rule of law. In
this context, Parliament requests to be regularly informed with
substantial information on the situation in Uzbekistan, especially
with regard to the eradication of forced child labour.
The resolution concludes that Parliament will only
consider the consent if the ILO observers, have been granted access
by the Uzbek authorities to undertake close and unhindered
monitoring and have confirmed that concrete reforms have been
implemented and yielded substantial results in such a way that the
practice of forced labour and child labour is effectively in the
process of being eradicated at national, viloyat and local
level.