Italian Textile Machinery Companies Profit From Turkmen Forced Labor
Italian Commercial Delegation to Turkmenistan Undermines Concurrent EU-Turkmenistan Human Rights Dialogue and International Efforts to End Forced Labor in Turkmenistan Cotton
(Brussels/Washington, D.C., June 25, 2024) - Business associations, textile machinery manufacturers, brands, and other supply chain actors must stop all investments in Turkmenistan’s textile industry to avoid benefitting or profiting from systematic and widespread state-imposed forced labor in Turkmen cotton production, said the Cotton Campaign, a global coalition dedicated to ending forced labor for Central Asian cotton workers. The call comes as the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), a government agency operating within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT) are co-organizing a commercial delegation visit to Turkmenistan between June 24-28, 2024—which coincides with the annual EU-Turkmenistan Human Rights Dialogue in Ashgabat. On June 18, 2024, the Cotton Campaign wrote letters to the leadership of both organizations, urging them to cancel their business meetings in Turkmenistan and instead use their leverage to pressure the government of Turkmenistan to end its forced labor system. As of June 25, 2024, neither provided a response.
ACIMIT reported that in 2023 alone, its members sold €13 million worth of textile machinery to Turkmen entities. All cotton in Turkmenistan is produced by the state, with the systematic and widespread forced labor of state employees, and sometimes child labor. Because Turkmenistan does not import cotton, all machinery and equipment supplied to spinning mills, fabric mills, sewing units and other manufacturing facilities in the Turkmen textile industry facilitate the production of Turkmen cotton, which is entirely harvested with forced labor, into (semi-) finished goods. Companies contributing to the vertical integration of textiles production in Turkmenistan not only benefit from the forced labor system, but they also facilitate Turkmen cotton entering global markets, thus undermining international efforts to eradicate forced labor from global supply chains. In the US, Turkmen cotton and cotton products have been banned from imports since 2018 and, with the upcoming adoption of the Forced Labor Regulation (FLR) in the EU, the import and sale of products made with forced labor will soon be banned across the whole EU.
The use of widespread and systematic state-imposed forced labor, in combination with the Turkmen government’s severe repression of all civic freedoms, makes it impossible for international companies to conduct any credible due diligence on the ground to prevent or remediate forced labor in the production of Turkmen cotton. For this reason, ITA and ACIMIT should require Italian companies to not enter into business relationships with Turkmen textile producers and to terminate any such existing relationships.
The Italian commercial delegation trip to Turkmenistan coincides with the annual EU-Turkmenistan Human Rights Dialogue in Ashgabat (June 25), with the presence of the EU Special Representative for Human Rights Olof Skoog. The EU should use this platform to urge the elimination of forced labor and the development of an enabling environment for labor rights—which is essential to fostering sustainable economic development. Because of state-imposed forced labor in the cotton harvest and other gross human rights violations committed by the government of Turkmenistan, in 2019 the EU Parliament did not ratify the EU-Turkmenistan Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), a decision which was reiterated in January 2024, when the Parliament emphasized that “Turkmenistan needs to demonstrate an improvement in its dire democracy and human rights record in order for Parliament to reconsider its position and ratify the PCA”.
The EU has repeatedly called for the end of state-imposed forced labor in the Turkmen cotton sector, but the credibility of this position is undermined by the Italian Trade Agency, which is an Italian government agency, facilitating business engagement between Italian machine manufacturers and Turkmenistan’s textile industry. The EU’s position is further undermined by the fact that companies operating in the EU continue to import products made in whole or in part with forced labor cotton originating in Turkmenistan. Italy, Poland, and Portugal are key European producers that use Turkmen cotton yarn and fabric in the products they sell to global brands. Italy is a key European importer of cotton finished goods (in particular bed linens) directly from Turkmenistan. Furthermore, since Turkey is the top producer of garments using Turkmen cotton and the third-largest textiles supplier to the EU, all brands retailing in the EU are therefore at risk of using Turkmen cotton in their products.
The EU and its Member States should ensure that their international trade and investment policies are aligned with their commitments to responsible business conduct and the objectives of upcoming EU legislation seeking to eradicate forced labor from supply chains, including the recently adopted Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the forthcoming FLR. All companies operating in the EU should terminate all business with Turkmenistan’s textile industry, including direct and indirect business or sourcing relationships. Facilitating or continuing business in the Turkmen textile sector is unethical and contrary to international standards for responsible business conduct. It also severely undermines efforts by the Cotton Campaign and its civil society partners, the ILO, responsible companies and investors, policy makers, and enforcement agencies to increase the pressure on the government of Turkmenistan to end its forced labor system.
Ruslan Myatiev, director of Turkmen.News, an independent media and human rights organization, which also monitors forced labor in Turkmenistan’s cotton fields, said: “Turkmenistan remains one of the most repressive countries in the world. All governments and companies should condition business with Turkmenistan’s textile industry on the elimination of state-imposed forced labor in the harvest and the protection of labor rights and empowerment of workers and farmers.”
Allison Gill, legal director at Global Labor Justice, which hosts the Cotton Campaign, said: “The Italian co-hosts of this commercial delegation and the companies that are already doing business with Turkmen textile entities have failed to conduct even the most basic human rights due diligence in their selection of partners and are profiting from the forced labor of Turkmen workers. To comply with responsible business conduct guidelines and regulations, and stop contributing to the exploitation of workers in Turkmenistan, all companies should terminate their direct and indirect business relationships with Turkmenistan’s textile industry.”
Adria Cots Fernandez, business and human rights partnerships coordinator at Anti-Slavery International, a member of the Cotton Campaign, said: “Everyone should be able to choose their work and live in freedom, but tens of thousands of people in Turkmenistan are forced to work in the cotton harvest every year. The EU is committed to eradicate forced labor from supply chains and therefore no European company should be profiting from this forced labor. European institutions and EU Member States must interrogate, and where necessary correct, all trade initiatives and economic cooperation with Turkmenistan to make sure they do not enable or perpetuate forced labor in Turkmenistan.”
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Key points:
Between June 24-28, 2024, a commercial delegation co-organized by the Italian government is meeting with textile industry actors in Turkmenistan to deepen business relationships, in blatant disregard of systematic and widespread state-imposed forced labor in Turkmen cotton production. This follows a reported €13 million in sales of Italian textile machinery to Turkmen entities in 2023, and flies in the face of prior EU calls to end forced labor in Turkmenistan.
Companies providing machinery and equipment to spinning mills, fabric mills, sewing units and other manufacturing facilities in the Turkmen textile industry benefit from forced labor in cotton production and facilitate Turkmen cotton entering global supply chains. This severely undermines efforts across jurisdictions, including in the EU, where guidelines for responsible business conduct and national laws governing supply chains, imports, and human rights due diligence require companies to eliminate forced labor from supply chains.
The Italian commercial delegation coincides with the annual EU - Turkmenistan Human Rights Dialogue in Ashgabat, on June 25. The EU should use this platform to urge Turkmenistan to end forced labor, and ensure that trade and investment initiatives of its Member States do not undermine such calls. EU institutions and Member States—including Italy—should require companies to cut all ties with Turkmenistan’s textile industry, including direct and indirect business or sourcing relationships.
