1.

Requests the Council and the Commission to take into account the following recommendations: (i) Strongly condemn the use of forced child labour in Uzbekistan; (ii) Strongly support the ILO’s call on the Government of Uzbekistan to accept a high-level tripartite observer mission that would have full freedom of movement and timely access to all locations and relevant parties, including in the cotton fields, in order to assess the implementation of the ILO Convention; (iii) Outline the importance of international observers to monitor the development of the situation of forced labour in Uzbekistan, as well as in other countries in the region; (iv) Urge the Uzbek President Islam Karimov to allow an ILO monitoring mission into the country to address the issue of forced child labour practices; (v) Urge the Government of Uzbekistan to allow an ILO monitoring mission and to ensure that the practice of forced labour and forced child labour is effectively in the process of being eradicated at national, viloyat and local level; (vi) Remind the Uzbek authorities that despite the fact that human rights principles are included in the text of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan and that Uzbekistan has signed and ratified most UN conventions relating to human rights, civil and political rights and the rights of the child, this formal set of legal acts still needs to be implemented effectively; (vii) Contribute through policy dialogue and assistance programmes to market-oriented reforms of Uzbekistan's agricultural sector; offer assistance from the Union for the transition, ultimately, to a privatised and liberalised farming sector in Uzbekistan, in line with developments in neighbouring countries; (viii) Ensure that pursuing the end to the practice of forced child labour in cotton production will be a priority of the Union human rights strategy in the Union Delegation in Tashkent; insists that this should be reflected in policy, monitoring, reporting, staffing and financial assistance; (ix) That the Commission shall study and if appropriate submit to the European Parliament a legislative proposal on an effective traceability mechanism for the goods being produced through forced child labour; (x) Support the Parliament’s call to cotton traders and retailers to desist from buying cotton produced by forced child labour from Uzbekistan and to notify consumers and all of their suppliers of this commitment; (xi) If ILO monitoring bodies conclude that serious and systematic breach of Uzbekistan's obligations exists, the Commission should consider initiating an investigation into the temporary withdrawal of the GSP if all other requirements are met; and underlines that in doing so the Commission is merely enforcing the existing Union GSP rules, and stresses the importance of demonstrating consistency in the application of these rules; (xii) Outline the importance of the relations between the Union and Uzbekistan on the basis of the PCA and its democratic and human rights principles; reiterate the Union's commitment to further and deepen bilateral relations, which include trade, as well as all areas related to democratic principles, respect for human and fundamental rights and the rule of law; (xiii) Actively contribute to the improvement of the social, economic and human rights situation of the population of Uzbekistan by promoting a bottom-up approach and by supporting civil society organisations and the media in order to achieve a sustainable democratisation process; (xiv) Provide the Parliament regularly with substantial information on the situation in Uzbekistan, especially with regard to the eradication of forced child labour;