Promoting Labor Rights in the Cut Flower Industry

Hearing Notice

Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a hearing on human rights and labor practices in the global cut flower industry.

The United States is the largest importer of cut flowers in the world, importing $2 billion (36% of all global imports) in 2023, especially roses, chrysanthemums, carnations, and lilies, from an industry with persistent reports of labor abuses.  Cut flowers represent a significant global industry, with an estimated $37 billion in global market size in 2023, and $10 billion in global trade.  The major exporting countries for cut flowers are the Netherlands, Colombia, Ecuador, and Kenya, composing an estimated 81% of global cut flower exports. 

 This hearing will examine the human rights implications of labor practices, human trafficking and forced labor, child labor, and violence against women within the cut flower industry. It will highlight existing best practices and policy recommendations for protecting human rights, especially in the leading producer countries. Important policy issues include supply chain accountability and place-of-origin traceability, the role of third-party contractors in skirting labor protections guaranteed by law, the role of auctions in reducing supply chain transparency, and the intersection of individual worker rights with collective indigenous rights in areas of flower plantations’ concentration. 

U.S. legal instruments to influence human rights practices in the cut flowers industry include Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which prohibits the importation of products produced with forced labor, and country-specific agreements like the U.S.-Colombia Action Plan Related to Labor Rights.  Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes the right to just and favorable conditions of work; equal pay for equal work without discrimination; and the right to form and join trade unions.

The witnesses will present best practices in the cut flower industry and offer policy recommendations.

The hearing will be hybrid. Members of Congress will participate in person. Witnesses may participate in person or remotely via Cisco WebEx. The public and the media may attend in person or view the hearing by live webcast on the Commission website. The hearing will also be available for viewing on the House Digital Channel service. For any questions, please contact Jeff Pugh (for Co-Chair McGovern) or Mark Milosch (for Co-Chair Smith).

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