USA: Congress members ask SEC to require Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein certify products are forced labour-free; incl. company comment
bhrrc
"Congress presses Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein on forced labour" 2 May 2023
US Congress is stepping up the pressure on Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein.
In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday, a bipartisan group of 22 US House of Representatives members asked the SEC to require that Shein certify that any of its products that are made in China do not utilize Uyghur forced labor.
“There are credible allegations of the company’s use of underpaid and forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,” said the letter, led by Reps. John Rose of Tennessee and Jennifer Wexton of Virginia.
The United States has banned all imports from the Xinjiang region over concerns of the use of forced labour.
Lawmakers “are demanding transparency and seeking independent verification — free from state influence — that the company does not use Uyghur forced labor,” according to the letter.
A Shein spokesperson told CNN that the company has no suppliers in the Xinjiang region and it has zero tolerance for forced labor.
The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. [...]