Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Request for Information on Efforts by Certain Countries To Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor, 77841-77844 [E8-30140]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 245 (Friday, December 19, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77841-77844]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30140]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR


Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Request for Information on 
Efforts by Certain Countries To Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child 
Labor

AGENCY: The Bureau of International Labor Affairs, United States 
Department of Labor.

[[Page 77842]]


ACTION: Request for information on efforts by certain countries to 
eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice is a request for information for use by the 
Department of Labor (DOL) in preparation of an annual report on certain 
trade beneficiary countries' implementation of international 
commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. This will be 
the eighth such report by DOL under the Trade and Development Act of 
2000 (TDA).

DATES: Submitters of information are requested to provide their 
submission to the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human 
Trafficking at the e-mail or physical address below by 5 p.m., January 
26, 2009.

ADDRESSES: E-mail submissions should be addressed to Tina McCarter at 
mccarter.tina@dol.gov. Written submissions should be addressed to Ms. 
McCarter at the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human 
Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, USDOL, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Room S-5317, Washington, DC 20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tina McCarter or Charita Castro, 
Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Office of Child Labor, Forced 
Labor and Human Trafficking, at (202) 693-4843, fax: (202) 693-4830, or 
via e-mail to mccarter-tina@dol.gov or castro.charita@dol.gov. DOL's 
international child labor reports can be found on the Internet at 
https://www.dol.gov/ILAB/media/reports/iclp/main.htm or can be obtained 
from the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Trade and Development Act of 2000 [Pub. 
L. 106-200] established a new eligibility criterion for receipt of 
trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), 
Caribbean Basin Trade and Partnership Act (CBTPA), and Africa Growth 
and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The TDA amends the GSP reporting 
requirements of the Trade Act of 1974 (Section 504) [19 U.S.C. 2464] to 
require that the President's annual report on the status of 
internationally recognized worker rights include ``findings by the 
Secretary of Labor with respect to the beneficiary country's 
implementation of its international commitments to eliminate the worst 
forms of child labor.'' Title II of the TDA and the TDA Conference 
Report [Joint Explanatory Statement of the Committee of Conference, 
106th Cong.2d.sess. (2000)] indicate that the same criterion applies 
for the receipt of benefits under CBTPA and AGOA, respectively.
    In addition, the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), as amended and 
expanded by the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act 
(ATPDEA) [Pub. L. 107-210, Title XXXI], includes as a criterion for 
receiving benefits ``[w]hether the country has implemented its 
commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor as defined in 
section 507(6) of the Trade Act of 1974.''

Scope of Report

    Countries and non-independent countries and territories presently 
eligible under the GSP and to be included in the report are: 
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Argentina, Armenia, 
Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
Botswana, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin 
Islands, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central 
African Republic, Chad, Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Colombia, 
Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Cook 
Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Djibouti, Dominica, East 
Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Falkland 
Islands, Fiji, Gabon, the Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, 
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Heard Island and MacDonald 
Islands, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, 
Kiribati, Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Macedonia, 
Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, 
Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, 
Niue, Norfolk Island, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, 
Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Russia, Rwanda, Saint 
Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the 
Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tom[eacute] and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, 
Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri 
Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tokelau Island, 
Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, 
Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, 
Wallis and Futuna, West Bank and Gaza Strip, Western Sahara, Republic 
of Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
    Countries eligible or potentially eligible for additional benefits 
under the AGOA and to be included in the report are: Angola, Benin, 
Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, 
Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, 
Ethiopia, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, 
Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, 
Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, 
Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, 
Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.
    Countries potentially eligible for additional benefits under the 
CBTPA and to be included in the report are: Barbados, Belize, Costa 
Rica, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad and 
Tobago.
    Countries potentially eligible for additional benefits under the 
ATPA/ATPDEA and to be included in the report are: Bolivia, Colombia, 
Ecuador, and Peru.
    In addition, the following countries will be included in the report 
as required by the Department of Labor Appropriations, 2006, Conference 
Report, H.R. Rep. 109-337 (2005): Bahrain, Chile, Dominican Republic, 
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Morocco, and Nicaragua.

Information Sought

    The Department invites interested parties to submit information 
relevant to the findings to be made by DOL under the TDA for all listed 
countries. Information provided through public submission will be 
considered by DOL in preparing its findings. Materials submitted should 
be confined to the specific topic of the study. In particular, DOL's 
Bureau of International Labor Affairs is seeking submissions on the 
following topics:
    1. Whether the country has adequate laws and regulations 
proscribing the worst forms of child labor. Specifically, DOL is 
seeking the following information:
    (a) What laws have been promulgated on child labor? What is the 
country's minimum age for admission to work? Are there exceptions to 
the minimum age law? What is the minimum age for admission to hazardous 
work, and what additional provisions have been enacted regarding 
children's involvement in hazardous work?
    (b) What laws have been promulgated on the worst forms of child 
labor, such as forced child labor and trafficking or child prostitution 
and pornography? Please specify what worst forms of child labor are 
prohibited and describe penalties for violations. What is the minimum 
age for military recruitment and/or involvement in armed conflict?
    (c) If the country has ratified International Labor Organization 
(ILO) Convention 182, has it developed a list of occupations considered 
to be worst

[[Page 77843]]

forms of child labor, as called for in article 4 of the Convention?
    2. Whether the country has adequate laws and regulations as well as 
formal institutional mechanisms for the implementation and enforcement 
of such laws and regulations; specifically:
    (a) What legal remedies are available to government agencies that 
enforce child labor and worst forms of child labor laws (civil fines, 
criminal penalties, court orders, etc.), and are they adequate to deter 
violations?
    (b) To what extent are violations investigated and addressed?
    (c) What level of resources does the government devote to 
investigating child labor and worst forms of child labor cases? How 
many inspectors does the government employ to address child labor? How 
many police or other law enforcement officials address worst forms of 
child labor issues? How many child labor investigations have been 
conducted over the past year and how many have resulted in fines, 
penalties, or convictions? How many investigations into worst forms of 
child labor violations have been conducted over the past year and how 
many have resulted in prosecutions and convictions?
    (d) Has the government provided training activities for officials 
charged with enforcing child labor or worst forms of child labor laws?
    3. Whether social programs exist in the country to prevent the 
engagement of children in the worst forms of child labor, and to assist 
in the removal of children engaged in the worst forms of child labor; 
specifically:
    (a) What initiatives has the government supported specifically to 
prevent or withdraw children from exploitive work situations, such as 
school scholarships conditioned on a child's withdrawal from child 
labor? (If possible, please provide information on funding levels for 
such initiatives.)
    4. Whether the country has a comprehensive policy for the 
elimination of the worst forms of child labor; specifically:
    (a) Does the country have a comprehensive policy or national 
program of action on child labor or any of its forms?
    (b) Does the country specifically incorporate child labor in 
poverty reduction, development, educational or other social policies or 
programs, such as Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, etc.? If so, to 
what degree has the country implemented the policy and/or program of 
action and achieved its goals and objectives?
    (c) Is education free in law and in practice? Is education 
compulsory in law and in practice?
    Please note that although many anti-poverty programs may have 
indirect impacts on child labor, the TDA calls for governments to take 
specific actions to address the problem. Therefore, the DOL's report 
focuses, and information is requested on, efforts that name child labor 
as an explicit objective, target group, or condition for participation 
in government policies and programs.
    5. Whether the country is making continual progress toward 
eliminating the worst forms of child labor; specifically:
    (a) In what sectors/work activities/goods do children work and how 
has this changed over the past year? Information on age and gender of 
working children, disaggregated by industry/work activity/good, is 
appreciated.
    Please note that in order to provide comparable statistics on child 
work and education across countries in the TDA report, DOL relies on 
the Understanding Children's Work Project (see https://www.ucw-
project.org/) and UNESCO Institute of Statistics data (https://
stats.uis.unesco.org/); therefore, such data is NOT being requested in 
this Notice.
    (b) To what extent are children working in slavery or practices 
similar to slavery, such as debt bondage, serfdom, and forced or 
compulsory labor? Please indicate industries where this occurs and, if 
applicable, specific goods that such children produce.
    (c) To what extent are children trafficked to work? Are children 
trafficked for commercial sex or for labor exploitation? Information on 
the industries into which children are trafficked and the goods that 
they produce in this situation is appreciated. Are they trafficked 
across national borders or within the country (specify source, 
destination and transit countries/regions/communities, if possible).
    DOL greatly appreciates submission of original sources. Information 
submitted may include reports, newspaper articles, or other materials. 
Governments that have ratified ILO Convention 182 are requested to 
submit copies of their most recent article 22 submissions under the 
Convention, especially those with information on types of work 
determined in accordance with article 4 of the Convention. Copies of 
any recent government child labor surveys or data sets are also 
particularly appreciated.

Definition of Worst Forms of Child Labor

    The term ``worst forms of child labor'' is defined in section 
412(b) of the TDA as comprising:
    ``(A) all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as 
the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and 
forced or compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory recruitment 
of children for use in armed conflict;
    (B) the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for 
the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;
    (C) the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit 
activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs 
as defined in relevant international treaties; and
    (D) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is 
carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of 
children.''
    The TDA Conference Report noted that the phrase, ``work which, by 
its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely 
to harm the health, safety or morals of children,'' is to be defined as 
in article II of Recommendation No. 190, which accompanies ILO 
Convention 182. This includes:
    ``(a) Work which exposes children to physical, psychological, or 
sexual abuse;
    (b) Work underground, under water, at dangerous heights or in 
confined spaces;
    (c) Work with dangerous machinery, equipment and tools, or which 
involves the manual handling or transport of heavy loads;
    (d) Work in an unhealthy environment which may, for example, expose 
children to hazardous substances, agents or processes, or to 
temperatures, noise levels, or vibrations damaging to their health;
    (e) Work under particularly difficult conditions such as work for 
long hours or during the night or work where the child is unreasonably 
confined to the premises of the employer.''
    The TDA Conference Report further indicated that this phrase be 
interpreted in a manner consistent with the intent of article 4 of ILO 
Convention 182, which states that such work shall be determined by 
national laws or regulations or by the competent authority in the 
country involved. In addition, the TDA Conference report indicated that 
the phrase generally not apply to situations in which children work for 
their parents on bona fide family farms or holdings.

[[Page 77844]]

    This notice is a general solicitation of comments from the public.

Marcia Eugenio,
Acting Associate Deputy Under Secretary, International Labor Affairs 
Bureau.
 [FR Doc. E8-30140 Filed 12-18-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-28-P