European Cotton Decision Unlikely to Change Uzbek Policies

A decision by European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee to block trade concessions for Uzbek cotton is likely to prompt Tashkent to redirect exports of the commodity to other markets, experts say.

On October 4, the committee voted against including cotton purchases from Uzbekistan in the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement the EU signed with the country in 1999. It cited the continuing use of child labour in cotton cultivation.

The decision means Uzbek cotton imports to the EU will not benefit from reduced tariffs.

Uzbekistan is the world’s fifth-largest cotton producer and third-largest exporter.

Pressure on Tashkent to curb child labour culminated in 2008 with a boycott imposed by four major western clothing and retail associations, which were joined by big chains like Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Gap.

Although formally banned by Uzbek national law, state-organised coercion of minors to pick the cotton crop has continued into autumn 2011. (See Child Labour Persists in Uzbek Cotton Industry on the current situation.)

In response to the boycott, Uzbekistan has shifted much of its sales from Europe to Asia and the Middle East, so that its cotton goes to China, Iran, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, South Korea and Vietnam, as well as Russia, a traditional market. China purchased more than 90,000 ton of Uzbek raw cotton in the first eight months of 2011.

Experts say Tashkent does not regard European markets as crucial, and are likely to pay little heed to the concerns raised in the European parliament.

Moscow-based expert Dmitry Verkhoturov said, "Judging by the programme to boost cotton processing within the country, Uzbekistan is already targeting markets in underdeveloped countries, to which it will sell cotton yarn and textile. In other words, semi-finished products at prices the buyers can afford."

Tashkent-based analyst Abdurahmon Tashanov noted that Uzbek cotton could still reach Europe as resales from Asian countries, further reducing the European Union’s economic leverage.

He predicted that Uzbek cotton exports would grow and the use of child labour would continue.

Another commentator, who works to monitor Uzbekistan's compliance with its international human rights obligations, said sanctions and other mechanisms were ineffective because the authorities were unmoveable on certain issues. He drew a comparison with the sanctions the EU imposed after Uzbek security forces shot hundreds of protesters in the town of Andijan in 2005.

"These cases have one thing in common – they have no effect at all," he said. "Remember the sanctions imposed on Tashkent – it cut itself off [by boosting ties] with Russia and China, which made sanctions ineffective. The same thing will happen with the cotton issue."

This article was produced as part of IWPR's News Briefing Central Asia output, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy.