U.S. CUSTOMS ISSUES DETENTION ORDER AGAINST MONGOLIAN TEXTILE FIRM

U.S. CUSTOMS ISSUES DETENTION ORDER AGAINST MONGOLIAN TEXTILE FIRM

   U.S. Customs has issued a detention order for men's and girls' clothing manufactured by Dong Fang Guo Ji of Mongolia because the company has allegedly used forced child labor.

   The order requires detention at all U.S. ports of entry for any textile products manufactured by the company and is based on information obtained by the U.S. Customs service and other sources.

   Customs investigators said that factory managers forced employees, some of whom are minors, to work 14-hour days, seven days a week. The factory management also allegedly deducted unreasonable amounts of money from workers' salaries without paying overtime. Customs also said working conditions at the company's two factories was poor and employee housing is substandard.

   Treating minors as adult-age workers is a violation of Mongolian law.

   Dong Fan only exports to the United States. About 90 percent of their exports are labeled under their name, while the remaining exporters are under company names for which the company does sub-contracting work.