Uzbekistan prohibits use of child labor in cotton harvesting

Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyayev prohibited the use of child labor in cotton harvesting by his order, a source in the country's government told Trend.Az on Tuesday.

According to the agency, the government directive banning involvement of schoolchildren in cotton harvesting in the harvest campaign 2012 was distributed to all schools through the regional department of public education in Uzbekistan.

"The Prime Minister strictly ordered not to involve any schoolchild in cotton harvest campaign in 2012," the source said.

Control over fulfillment of this order is assigned to the country's Prosecutor General's Office.

As it was previously reported, in late 2009, Uzbekistan's Parliament passed amendments to the Code of administrative responsibility, increasing penalties for child labor.

The amendments were developed to implement a national action plan in Uzbekistan to enforce the International Labor Organization Convention and ILO Convention on Minimum Age for Admission to Employment. Uzbekistan ratified both documents in March 2008.