HONG KONG: Beijing Games organizers have stressed that the use of child labor is strictly forbidden in the production of Olympic-licensed products and vowed to probe any allegation of labor abuse.

Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice-president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), was responding to media queries on a report of alleged labor abuse in Guangdong factories that produce Olympics merchandise.

A report released on Sunday by international trade union alliance PlayFair said some Olympics merchandise licensees are using child labor as young as 12 and paying low wages to workers forced to do overtime.

At a luncheon in Hong Kong where he presented updates on the preparations for the Games, Jiang said: "There are explicit and strict requirements for the production and sales of licensed products, as stipulated in the contracts between BOCOG and the companies.

"BOCOG strictly adheres to the regulation on banning the use of child labor. We will deal with each and every case of labor abuse seriously if they are found true."

He said BOCOG had heard of the report earlier yesterday and was checking the charges, adding that the "contracts of companies that violate regulations can be canceled".

On the progress made in preparation for the Olympics, he said that construction of most of the competition and training venues would be completed by the end of this year.

Work on facilities related to the Games such as the Olympic Village and infrastructure such as the new airport terminal and metro lines is progressing smoothly, he said.

(China Daily 06/12/2007 page1)