[US] Ban on cotton from forced Uyghur labour takes effect

The US fashion industry has been told to overcome its reliance on cotton from China’s Xinjiang region, as a new law comes into force giving US border authorities greater powers to block or seize goods linked to forced labour in China, The Guardian reports.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) came into force on June 21, it assumes that any product partly or wholly made in Xinjiang, north-west China, is linked to the region’s labour camps. Chinese authorities have detained as many as one million Uyghurs and subjected them to forced labour since 2017.

The fashion industry will be hit particularly hard by the new law. About 20 per cent of the world’s cotton comes from China and 84 per cent of that comes from Xinjiang.

The UFLPA has reportedly designated cotton a “high priority for enforcement”, along with tomatoes and polysilicon. Any British or EU fashion brand exporting to the US will also be subject to it. Failure to provide adequate certification or supply-chain details may result in fines of up to $250,000 (£205,000).

The ban poses big problems for the industry. Liv Simpliciano from Fashion Revolution said Xinjiang cotton is ubiquitous in supply chains. “The difficulty is that at the ginning stage [when fibres are separated from their seeds], cotton from disparate locations is mixed together, making it impossible to trace the provenance,” she said.

A number of technology companies - including TrusTrace, SupplyShift and TextileGenesis - plan to use blockchain and artificial intelligence to trace supply chains for fashion labels. Brands are able to use the platforms to log all their purchase orders and certifications.

In order to conclusively prove an absence of Xinjiang cotton, brands would need to show a “complete digital chain of custody”, Shameek Ghosh - chief executive of TrusTrace - said, “where a brand is fully in control of its supply chain from the farm onwards”.

Fashion has a notorious history of caginess about its supply chains but there is now a strong business case for full transparency. A recent report by the financial think tank Planet Tracker said that implementing traceability “can improve net profit on average by 3 per cent-7 per cent for apparel companies”; even before any fashion stock has been impounded by border forces.

As a result of the General Data Protection Regulation, TrusTrace is not alerted if Xinjiang cotton is found in a brand’s supply chain. “Only the brand is informed,” Mr Ghosh said. “They wouldn’t use a platform like this [if they’d be exposed].”

However, blockchain technology is not without problems of its own. “If you’re relying on brand discretion to ratify their sourcing practices, then what’s the efficacy going to be?” Philippa Grogan from Eco-Age asked. “Also, blockchain technology is not regulated, so it creates a risk environment – the lack of regulatory oversight makes it vulnerable to market manipulation.”

Source: The Guardian

(Quotes via original reporting)

The US fashion industry has been told to overcome its reliance on cotton from China’s Xinjiang region, as a new law comes into force giving US border authorities greater powers to block or seize goods linked to forced labour in China, The Guardian reports.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) came into force on June 21, it assumes that any product partly or wholly made in Xinjiang, north-west China, is linked to the region’s labour camps. Chinese authorities have detained as many as one million Uyghurs and subjected them to forced labour since 2017.

The fashion industry will be hit particularly hard by the new law. About 20 per cent of the world’s cotton comes from China and 84 per cent of that comes from Xinjiang.

The UFLPA has reportedly designated cotton a “high priority for enforcement”, along with tomatoes and polysilicon. Any British or EU fashion brand exporting to the US will also be subject to it. Failure to provide adequate certification or supply-chain details may result in fines of up to $250,000 (£205,000).

The ban poses big problems for the industry. Liv Simpliciano from Fashion Revolution said Xinjiang cotton is ubiquitous in supply chains. “The difficulty is that at the ginning stage [when fibres are separated from their seeds], cotton from disparate locations is mixed together, making it impossible to trace the provenance,” she said.

A number of technology companies - including TrusTrace, SupplyShift and TextileGenesis - plan to use blockchain and artificial intelligence to trace supply chains for fashion labels. Brands are able to use the platforms to log all their purchase orders and certifications.

In order to conclusively prove an absence of Xinjiang cotton, brands would need to show a “complete digital chain of custody”, Shameek Ghosh - chief executive of TrusTrace - said, “where a brand is fully in control of its supply chain from the farm onwards”.

Fashion has a notorious history of caginess about its supply chains but there is now a strong business case for full transparency. A recent report by the financial think tank Planet Tracker said that implementing traceability “can improve net profit on average by 3 per cent-7 per cent for apparel companies”; even before any fashion stock has been impounded by border forces.

As a result of the General Data Protection Regulation, TrusTrace is not alerted if Xinjiang cotton is found in a brand’s supply chain. “Only the brand is informed,” Mr Ghosh said. “They wouldn’t use a platform like this [if they’d be exposed].”

However, blockchain technology is not without problems of its own. “If you’re relying on brand discretion to ratify their sourcing practices, then what’s the efficacy going to be?” Philippa Grogan from Eco-Age asked. “Also, blockchain technology is not regulated, so it creates a risk environment – the lack of regulatory oversight makes it vulnerable to market manipulation.”

Source: The Guardian

(Quotes via original reporting)