Recently, to a great surprise of all, especially the Uzbek government, the world third biggest retailer and major retailer in UK Tesco had put a pioneering ban on cotton produced in Uzbekistan. The motives that lead a retailer to such a decision was the use of organized and forced child labor in producing the cotton.

Uzbekistan is the world’s third country on exporting cotton. The country’s economy heavily depends on cotton production. Due to the lack of technology and need to cut expenses, the government forces children and students to reap cotton from early September to late November, until it is cold in the fields. Children, whose bodies are not physically fully formed yet, have to do backbreaking job from early morning till late afternoon.

What Tesco had done is a great job and must be an example to other retailers, says Steve Trent, executive director of the Environmental Justice Foundation. For the calls to boycott Uzbek cotton in international market, all retailer companies used to answer in one manner - it is impossible to trace the complicated system of supply.

Now, with Testo case as an example, Environmental Justice Foundation is urging all retailers to follow Tesco’s initiative to boycott the Uzbek cotton in international market until the Uzbek government will not take appropriate measures to eliminate child labor in cotton production.