Textiles ministry plans factory grading to fend off US ban.

NEW DELHI: Faced with the possibility of the US blacklisting Indian apparels for use of child labour, the textile ministry is working on informal grading of textile units. It has teamed up with exporters to persuade factories in Delhi and Mumbai to adopt global practices, a government official has said.

To convince the US government about its seriousness towards eliminating child labour, the ministry will also set up dedicated cells to investigate cases of suspected child labour in the industry.

The US has threatened to include India in the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorisation (TVPRA) list and the Executive Order 13126 List (EOL) of the Department of Labour for using child labour. This could lead to large buyers from the US like Walmart, GAP, H&M, Diesel, M&S, Levi’s, boycotting Indian textiles leading to large losses for exporters.

The country accounts for 30% of India’s total apparel exports worth $10 billion.

“We are extremely concerned and have made it our personal mission to disprove that the garment industry is using forced child labour,” textiles secretary Rita Menon told ET.

The ministry is already in talks with the US government to persuade it not to go ahead with its intention to place India on the TVPRA list and EOL later this year. The ministries of external affairs and commerce are also being consulted by it on how the issue should be tackled, a ministry official said.

The textiles secretary has written to foreign secretary Nirupama Rao, urging her to take up the matter during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to India.

These efforts are over and above the common compliance code for the industry being worked out by the apparel export promotion council, the government-sponsored body of apparel exporters in India, which would ensure elimination of child labour and compliance with environmental requirements like chemicals, hazardous substance, domestic sewage, waste handling, personal protective equipment and recycling practices.

“This is first-of-its-kind, industry-owned compliance project. It not only aims at developing an India-specific code of ethics but also offers training and ways to build capacities, ” said AEPC chairman Prem Udani.

Source : Economic Times