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US bans Karnataka firm's bidis

The US Customs Service has ordered that hand-rolled Indian bidis manufactured by a particular company be seized at the border pending investigations over the company's reported use of child labour, officials said.

''The use of forced, convict or bonded labour, especially the forced labour of children, is morally, ethically and legally wrong,'' Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly said yesterday. ''The US Customs Service is committed to ensuring that products that enter this country were not made by exploiting those unable to fend for themselves.''

The cigarettes affected are those made by the Mangalore Ganesh Beedi Works of Karnataka.

Kelly said the decision came as a result of a US television news programme which on Tuesday aired a videotape taken at the Mangalore factory and alleged the company was using forced or indentured child labour.

A dollar figure for imported Mangalore bidis was not available, but customs officials said all imported bidis from India during fiscal 1999 amounted to about 1.28 million dollars.

UNI

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