Lord Grimstone of Boscobel, the Department for International Trade, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL555):
Question by Lord Alton of Liverpool
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the estimate by US Customs and Border Protection that 85 per cent of China’s manufactured cotton comes from the Xinjiang region; and what plans they have to introduce restrictions on imports of cotton to prevent the import of goods sent from Uighur internment camps in the Xinjiang region. (HL555)
Tabled on: 25 May 2021
Answer:
Lord Grimstone of Boscobel:
HM Government has serious concerns about the situation in Xinjiang, with reports of the use of forced labour. It has always been the case that where we have concerns, we raise them – as we did on this issue at the UN Human Rights Council, most recently in February.
We advise businesses with supply chain links in Xinjiang to conduct appropriate due diligence to satisfy themselves that their activities do not support, and are not seen to support, any violations or abuses of rights and responsibilities.
My Rt Hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary announced a review of export controls on 12thJanuary, but import controls were not included at this time.
Date and time of answer: 07 Jun 2021 at 13:14.
