Refayet Ullah Mirdha

The prospects to resume buying cotton from Uzbekistan have improved for Bangladesh after the United States lifted the ban on sourcing the key textile raw material from the country following significant progress in ending forced labour.

Until 2007, when a boycott campaign was launched against Uzbek cotton, the central Asian country was the single largest sourcing destination for Bangladesh, accounting for about 45 per cent of cotton imported.

But the import started depleting after international clothing retailers and brands, especially the European and American ones, imposed the ban on using Uzbek cotton for employing child and forced labour in cultivating and harvesting the textile raw material.

The ban led western retailers and brands to instruct garment-supplying nations, including Bangladesh, not to use cotton from the country.

They also threatened that they would not purchase the garment items if they were made from the yarn produced from Uzbek cotton.