Ban on cotton from Turkmenistan and Syria
Since December 2015, H&M has a ban on cotton from Turkmenistan and Syria. All suppliers working with H&M will sign a commitment requiring that they don’t buy cotton from Turkmenistan or Syria*.
The suppliers that do not sign the commitment will not be allowed to work with H&M. H&M has an equivalent ban on cotton from Uzbekistan since 2013.
The reason for this ban is that H&M under no circumstances accepts underage workers and/or forced labor being used anywhere in our value chain, including in cotton cultivation. Unfortunately this is sometimes the case in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and H&M does therefore not allow suppliers to buy conventional cotton from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan or Syria on our behalf.
By 2020 at the latest, our goal is that all the cotton we use in our products will come from sustainable sources – organic, recycled or from the Better Cotton initiative.
*Our suppliers commit to not buy cotton from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Syria on our behalf.