Justice For All Canada Welcomes Federal Government Business Advisory Concerning Imported Goods Linked to Xinjiang Forced Labour
January 13th, 2021
Justice For All Canada welcomes a business advisory notice issued by Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service on January 12, in response to the alarming global supply chains linked with forced labour practices in the Xinjiang region of China.
This business advisory marks a crucial first step in the Federal Government ensuring that Canadian companies remain free from products associated with forced labour.
We take this moment to highlight that Canada's acknowledgment of Uighur-forced labour is preceded by official efforts recently implemented by the United States and the United Kingdom to counter the mass rise of forced labour practices in China.
In September 2020, the "Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act" was passed in US Congress to protect against American-funded forced labour among ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. Similarly, the UK Government recently introduced new fines for companies who do not comply with mandatory checks to ensure their products are free from forced labour.
Canada amended the Customs Tariff Act in July 2020, prohibiting importing goods produced by forced labour, and thereby joining the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and other states in taking regulatory and legislative measures to combat modern slavery. While this critical step helps guide Canadian entities in protecting against goods tainted with unethical labour production, the Canadian government has yet to formally implement a system that deters Canadian companies from engaging in one of the largest industrial abuses in the international business community.
According to The Center for Global Policy, hundreds of thousands of Uighur labourers are being used in a coercive state-run scheme to harvest cotton. With over 500,000 people forced to pick cotton in Uighur-majority regions, Xinjiang has become a major supplier of the world's cotton (20 percent).
"Canada must join the United States and the United Kingdom in directly asking Canadian businesses and companies if they intend to source, or continue sourcing cotton products from China," warns Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director of Justice For All Canada.
"These disturbing findings demonstrate that cotton picking in China clearly involves forced labour. In addition to the military-style police surveillance and ideological training used by China's labour scheme, Canada cannot maintain its passive role towards Uighur human rights. There is no question that more must be done to determine how much of Canada’s cotton products is traced to Xinjiang," explained Ghayyur.
Justice For All Canada continues to request Canadian power holders not to be swayed by China's economic influence on the repression, abuse and outright genocide of Uighur and Turkic ethnic minorities in their Indigenous region of East Turkestan. Canada should look to existing precedent measures made by the United States and the United Kingdom, in order to impose both systemic checks and legal implications for Chinese goods linked to Xinjiang's forced labour models.
Justice For All Canada welcomes a business advisory notice issued by Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service on January 12, in response to the alarming global supply chains linked with forced labour practices in the Xinjiang region of China.
This business advisory marks a crucial first step in the Federal Government ensuring that Canadian companies remain free from products associated with forced labour.
We take this moment to highlight that Canada's acknowledgment of Uighur-forced labour is preceded by official efforts recently implemented by the United States and the United Kingdom to counter the mass rise of forced labour practices in China.
In September 2020, the "Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act" was passed in US Congress to protect against American-funded forced labour among ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. Similarly, the UK Government recently introduced new fines for companies who do not comply with mandatory checks to ensure their products are free from forced labour.
Canada amended the Customs Tariff Act in July 2020, prohibiting importing goods produced by forced labour, and thereby joining the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and other states in taking regulatory and legislative measures to combat modern slavery. While this critical step helps guide Canadian entities in protecting against goods tainted with unethical labour production, the Canadian government has yet to formally implement a system that deters Canadian companies from engaging in one of the largest industrial abuses in the international business community.
According to The Center for Global Policy, hundreds of thousands of Uighur labourers are being used in a coercive state-run scheme to harvest cotton. With over 500,000 people forced to pick cotton in Uighur-majority regions, Xinjiang has become a major supplier of the world's cotton (20 percent).
"Canada must join the United States and the United Kingdom in directly asking Canadian businesses and companies if they intend to source, or continue sourcing cotton products from China," warns Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director of Justice For All Canada.
"These disturbing findings demonstrate that cotton picking in China clearly involves forced labour. In addition to the military-style police surveillance and ideological training used by China's labour scheme, Canada cannot maintain its passive role towards Uighur human rights. There is no question that more must be done to determine how much of Canada’s cotton products is traced to Xinjiang," explained Ghayyur.
Justice For All Canada continues to request Canadian power holders not to be swayed by China's economic influence on the repression, abuse and outright genocide of Uighur and Turkic ethnic minorities in their Indigenous region of East Turkestan. Canada should look to existing precedent measures made by the United States and the United Kingdom, in order to impose both systemic checks and legal implications for Chinese goods linked to Xinjiang's forced labour models.