The Turkmen Cotton Pledge for Companies

All cotton originating in Turkmenistan is produced by the state with the systematic and widespread forced labor of hundreds of thousands of teachers, healthcare workers, other state employees. Brands and retailers face the risk of cotton made with state-imposed forced labor in Turkmenistan entering their cotton supply chains at all stages of production. Suppliers in third countries, in particular Turkey, but also Pakistan and Italy, use cotton, yarn, and fabric originating in Turkmenistan.

The government of Turkmenistan maintains complete control over the cotton production system, which is predicated on the coercion and exploitation of tens of thousands of tenant farmers, public sector employees, and others to produce and harvest cotton for the benefit of corrupt elites.

Every year during the harvest, which takes place between August and December, the Turkmen government forces tens of thousands of public sector workers, including employees of schools and hospitals, to pick cotton or pay for replacement pickers under threat of penalty, such as loss of employment. The government also extorts money from the same workers to pay expenses related to the harvest. Furthermore, the government imposes cotton production quotas on farmers and enforces them with the threat of penalty, including fines and loss of land. 

The government of Turkmenistan continues to exert control over all aspects of public life and to severely repress all civic freedoms, which are crucial to combating forced labor. All civil society organizations that are publicly critical of the repressive regime in Turkmenistan, including Cotton Campaign partners Turkmen News and the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, must work from exile, and the independent labor monitors and informants who provide evidence of forced labor conditions during the harvest, do so at great personal risk.

As all Turkmen cotton is produced within a state-imposed forced labor system, it is impossible for brands and retailers to conduct any credible due diligence on the ground to prevent or remedy forced labor. For this reason, to comply with laws governing supply chains and imports, such as the Withhold Release Order against Turkmen cotton in the US, the import ban on forced labor products in Canada, and upcoming forced labor legislation in the European Union, companies must map out their entire textile supply chains, down to the raw material level, and eliminate all cotton originating in Turkmenistan.

The Cotton Campaign and its partner Responsible Sourcing Network (RSN) are hosting the Turkmen Cotton Pledge for brands and suppliers. Sign it and publicly commit to not use Turkmen cotton in your products so long as it is produced with state-orchestrated forced labor.

Company Pledge Against Forced Labor in the Cotton Sector of Turkmenistan

We, the undersigned companies are working to ensure that forced labor does not find its way into our products. We are aware of reports documenting the systemic use of forced labor in Turkmenistan’s cotton production. We are collaborating with a multi-stakeholder coalition to raise awareness of this very serious concern, and press for its elimination.

As a signatory to this pledge, we are stating our firm opposition to the use of forced labor in Turkmenistan’s cotton production. We commit to not knowingly source Turkmen cotton for the manufacturing of any of our products until the Government of Turkmenistan ends the practice of forced labor in its cotton sector. Until the elimination of this practice is independently verified by the International Labour Organization, as well as determined by the Cotton Campaign, we will maintain this pledge.

“In Turkmenistan, just as in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), companies cannot prevent or remediate forced labor. For this reason, brands and retailers must establish a legally-binding policy that prohibits the use of cotton from Turkmenistan in their products, and require implementation by all spinning and fabric mills in their supply chains.”

— Raluca Dumitrescu, Coordinator of the Cotton Campaign

Pledge Signatories

149 brands and retailers have so far committed to not use Turkmen cotton in their products because it is produced with state-imposed forced labor.