US removes Indian carpets from restricted list

Observing that use of forced child labour has been significantly reduced in the production of carpets in India, the United States has removed the industry from its mandatory child labour free certification.

Indian carpet industry did not find mention in a final list prepared by the Department of Labour's Bureau of International Labour Affairs.

In a statement, the Department of Labour said that the final list has been announced following careful consideration by it, Departments of State and Homeland Security.

"The only change from the initial determination is that carpets produced in India are no longer included," the Department of Labour said in the statement.

Explaining the reasons for this, the department said it received a submission during the September 11, 2009 initial determination public comment period that described the nation-wide, third party monitoring of registered carpet looms in India, that gave details of the monitoring programme of registered looms, and that provided detailed analysis of data results related to child labour.

"Such detailed information on the monitoring of registered looms provided an analysis suggesting that child labour, including forced child labour, has been significantly reduced in the production of carpets in India," it said.

While the submission only addressed registered looms, it provided enough information to warrant further consideration of the matter especially given that a Department of Labour contractor is undertaking extensive research on child and forced labour in carpet production in South Asia, including India, it said.

The Department expects to receive information on the use of forced child labour on both registered and unregistered looms through this research and intends to wait until that time before a final decision is made regarding the inclusion of carpets from India on the EO List, it said.

However, several other Indian products continue to be in this list - bricks, cottonseed (hybrid), embroidered textiles (zari), garments and stones. Bricks, carpets and coal from Pakistan are included in this list; while those from China are bricks, cotton, electronics and toys. Bricks, carpets, embroidered textiles (zari) and stones from Nepal are also included in the list.