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See also sections of this website entitled:

• Flooring companies
• Building materials & equipment companies
• Construction companies

Websites:

Hand-Knotted Rugs & Carpets (Co-op America's Sweatshops.org)

Nepal Rugmark Foundation

Rugmark

Rugmark Foundation

Rugmark Germany

Rugmark India

Rugmark Pakistan

Other materials:

2003:

EPA steps up study of Teflon chemical risk to humans [USA] - An unregulated chemical used in furniture, carpet and Teflon could be a serious health risk to the public, prompting the Environmental Protection Agency this week to launch an in-depth assessment to determine its safety. (Reuters, 16 Apr. 2003) 

She has designs on global activism [USA] - Stephanie Odegard...started what has become a multimillion-dollar hand-woven rug business [Odegard Inc.] that also combats child labor and inhumane practices. (Neal St. Anthony, Star Tribune, 21 Mar. 2003)

2002:

Crescent Moon Fibers uses U.S. wool for child labor-free RUGMARK rugs from Nepal - Crescent Moon Fibers of Buchanan, Virginia joins RUGMARK’s child labor-free rug production program as the first licensee to use U.S.-produced wool in the making of their rugs in Nepal. (Rugmark Foundation, Oct. 2002)

The Climate Neutral Challenge - Global warming, until recently the lonely province of tree-huggers and wonks, is fast becoming a mainstream issue – and one, as some executives are learning, with profit potential...In the U.S., one can now book hotel rooms and flights and buy products – from household cleaning solutions to carpets – that are certified as having no net climate impact. (Katherine Ellison, on Business for Social Responsibility website, 1 July 2002)

Let Them Sweat -...sweatshops are the only hope of kids like Ahmed Zia, a 14-year-old boy here in Attock [Pakistan], a gritty center for carpet weaving. (Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times, 25 June 2002)

• Third-World Workers - Nicholas D. Kristof is correct when he says multinational companies can benefit workers in third-world countries, but wrong when he suggests that sweatshop jobs are better than no jobs at all. (Letter to the Editor of New York Times, from Doug Cahn, V.P., Human Rights Programs, Reebok International, 2 July 2002)

Retailers Join Together to Ensure Child Labor-free Carpet Production [USA]: RUGMARK Launches Socially Responsible Retail Sponsor Program (RUGMARK, 29 May 2002)

Now, boys also trafficked [from Nepal] to India, finds a new study -...Many boys are working in the carpet factories under highly exploitative conditions..."The boys as young as six years of age have to work for at least 11 hours and at maximum 18 hours a day"...Those working in the hotels have to sleep on the tables, if not on the chilly floor..."Most of the trafficked boys don’t get money for the first three years, as the money has to go to the traffickers." (Tilak Pokharel, Kathmandu Post, 17 Apr. 2002)

First Women Bank, ILO to combat child labour in Pakistan: The First Women Bank Ltd (FWBL) and ILO’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) have signed a memorandum of Understanding to set up micro finance projects for carpet weavers in the three cities of the Punjab as part of efforts to combat child labour. (Child Labour News Service, 15 Apr. 2002)

NHRC [National Human Right Commission] asked to probe Bihar child labourer's death [India]: The owner of a carpet factory in Uttar Pradesh has escaped unscathed despite brutal murder of a child from Bihar, and torturing many other kids who worked under him. (Child Labour News Service, 15 Mar. 2002)

Asian Bank allocates $150,000 to end child labour [Pakistan]: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) would help the government to effectively implement the national policy and plan of action to eliminate child labour...According to reports, the soccer industry has already been cleansed of the child labour while surgical instruments and carpet industry are government's next targets. (Business Recorder [Pakistan], 8 Feb. 2002)

2.5 million carpets woven without illegal child labour - RUGMARK presents itself at Domotex: Decrease of Child Labour due to Inspections and Social Programmes (Rugmark Germany, 14 Jan. 2002)

2001:

Agreement Set to Slash Carpet Waste [USA]: Government and industry are set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for Carpet Stewardship, a project participants say could divert from landfill much of the 2.5 million tons of carpet that gets discarded each year. (GreenBiz.com, 28 Dec. 2001)

India: 13 Bonded labourers freed - The officials of labour department rescued 13 bonded labourers including six children below 14 years of age from a carpet loom situated at Awasanpur under Handia Tehsil. (Times of India, in Child Labour News Service, 1 Dec. 2001)

Gujarat reports only 39 child workers in state [India]: In its latest data submitted to the National Human Rights Commission the state has reported a mere 39 child workers in its four cities - Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot...Patel [Sukhdev Patel of the Campaign Against Child Labour] said, "The state has thousands of child workers at construction sites and garment units all over Gujarat, silver and gold jewellery units in Ahmedabad, bidi and agarbatti units in the eastern belt, carpet and powerloom units in south Gujarat and ceramics units in Saurashtra". (The Times of India, 2 Nov. 2001)