TASHKENT – The President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoev, has ordered the abolition of the country’s decades-old state quota system for cotton crops in a change which has been welcomed by rights activists. In theory, the order should help end Uzbekistan’s long-standing forced labour issue. The decree was signed by Mirziyoev on March 6, and cancels quotas beginning in 2020 for the cultivation and sale of cotton.
The Uzbek-German Forum on Human Rights, which has campaigned on this issue for years, tentatively welcomed the abolition of the state quota system, saying it would give farmers more freedom to plant crops of their choosing.
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