Notice of Initial Determination Updating the List of Products Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced/Indentured Child Labor Pursuant to Executive Order 13126, 46794-46796 [E9-21507]

Download as PDF 46794 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 175 / Friday, September 11, 2009 / Notices Proview Technology, Suzhou, and Top Victory Investments; and (3) a Commission investigative attorney to be designated by the Director, Office of Unfair Import Investigations. The authority for the Commission’s determination is contained in section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1337), and in section 210.75 of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (19 CFR 210.75). By order of the Commission. Issued: September 4, 2009. Marilyn R. Abbott, Secretary to the Commission. [FR Doc. E9–21901 Filed 9–10–09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7020–02–P DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE cprice-sewell on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Under the Clean Water Act Notice is hereby given that on August 28, 2009, a proposed Consent Decree (‘‘Decree’’) in United States v. Charleswood, Inc., Civil Action No. 3:09–CV–00080 (RRE–KKK), was lodged with the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota, Southeastern Division. The case was brought under Section 402 of the Clean Water Act (‘‘CWA’’), 33 U.S.C. 1342, and involves the applicable permits governing discharge of storm water from the Charleswood Development in West Fargo, North Dakota. The Consent Decree requires that Charleswood (1) achieve and maintain compliance with the CWA and its implementing regulations, including applicable permits; (2) pay a civil penalty of $37,500 to redress the company’s past violations of the CWA and its implementing regulations, including applicable permits; and (3) establish a compliance and oversight program that must be implemented by the company to reduce the discharge of storm water from the Charleswood Development. The United States filed a Complaint with the Consent Decree which alleges that Charleswood failed to comply with the conditions of two general permits issued to it under Section 402 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. 1342, relating to the Charleswood Development. The Consent Decree would resolve the claims against Charleswood as described in the Complaint. The ultimate entry of the Consent Decree by the District Court of North Dakota would end this litigation. The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) days from the VerDate Nov<24>2008 15:23 Sep 10, 2009 Jkt 217001 date of this publication comments relating to the Decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and either e-mailed to pubcomment-ees.enrd@usdoj.gov or mailed to P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044–7611, and should refer to Civil Action No. 3:09–CV–00080 (RRE–KKK), D.J. Ref. No. 90–5–1–1–08299. The Decree may be examined at the Office of the United States Attorney, District of North Dakota, 655 1 Ave. N., Suite 250, Fargo, North Dakota 58102. It also may be examined at the offices of U.S. EPA Region 8, 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202. During the public comment period, the Decree may be examined on the following Department of Justice Web site, https:// www.usdoj.gov/enrd/ Consent_Decrees.html. A copy of the Decree may be obtained by mail from the Consent Decree Library, P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044–7611 or by faxing or e-mailing a request to Tonia Fleetwood (tonia.fleetwood@usdoj.gov), fax no. (202) 514–0097, phone confirmation number (202) 514–1547. In requesting a copy from the Consent Decree Library, please enclose a check in the amount of $13.00 (25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the U.S. Treasury or, if by e-mail or fax, forward a check in that amount to the Consent Decree Library at the stated address. Maureen Katz, Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division. [FR Doc. E9–21907 Filed 9–10–09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4410–15–P DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Office of the Secretary Notice of Initial Determination Updating the List of Products Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced/Indentured Child Labor Pursuant to Executive Order 13126 AGENCY: Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Labor. ACTION: Request for comments. SUMMARY: This initial determination proposes to update the list required by Executive Order No. 13126 (‘‘Prohibition of Acquisition of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor’’), in accordance with the ‘‘Procedural Guidelines for the PO 00000 Frm 00062 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Maintenance of the List of Products Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured Child Labor.’’ This notice sets forth an updated list of products, by country of origin, which the Department of Labor preliminarily believes might have been mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or indentured child labor. The Department of Labor invites public comment on its initial determination as to products that appear on the updated list set forth in this notice. The Department will consider all public comments prior to publishing a final determination updating the list of products, made in consultation and cooperation with the Department of State, and the Department of Homeland Security. DATES: Information should be submitted to the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking (OCFT) via one of the methods described below by 5 p.m., December 10, 2009. To Submit Information, or for Further Information, Contact: OCFT, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor at (202) 693–4843 (this is not a toll free number). Comments, identified as ‘‘Docket No. DOL–2009–0002,’’ may be submitted by any of the following methods: • Federal eRulemaking Portal: https:// www.regulations.gov. The portal includes instructions for submitting comments. Parties submitting responses electronically are encouraged not to submit paper copies. • Facsimile (fax): OCFT at 202–693– 4830. • Mail, Express Delivery, Hand Delivery, and Messenger Service (2 copies): Charita Castro or Rachel Rigby at U.S. Department of Labor, OCFT, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room S–5317, Washington, DC 20210. • E-mail: EO13126@dol.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background Executive Order No. 13126 (EO 13126), which was published in the Federal Register on June 16, 1999 (64 FR 32383), declared that it was ‘‘the policy of the United States Government * * * that the executive agencies shall take appropriate actions to enforce the laws prohibiting the manufacture or importation of good, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part by forced or indentured child labor.’’ Pursuant to the EO 13126, and following public notice and comment, the Department of Labor published in the January 18, 2001, Federal Register, a E:\FR\FM\11SEN1.SGM 11SEN1 46795 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 175 / Friday, September 11, 2009 / Notices final list of products (the ‘‘List’’), identified by their country of origin, that the Department, in consultation and cooperation with the Departments of State and Treasury [relevant responsibilities now within the Department of Homeland Security], had a reasonable basis to believe might have been mined, produced or manufactured with forced or indentured child labor (66 FR 5353). In addition to the List, the Department also published on January 18, 2001, ‘‘Procedural Guidelines for Maintenance of the List of Products Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured Child Labor’’ (Procedural Guidelines), which provide for maintaining, reviewing, and, as appropriate, revising the List (66 FR 5351). The current List and the Procedural Guidelines can be accessed on the Internet at https:// www.dol.gov/ILAB/regs/eo13126/ main.htm or can be obtained from: OCFT, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Room S–5317, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693–4843; fax (202) 693–4830. Pursuant to Section 3 of the Executive Order, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Councils published a final rule in the Federal Register on January 18, 2001, providing, amongst other requirements, that Federal contractors who supply products that appear on the List issued by the Department of Labor must certify to the contracting officer that the contractor, or, in the case of an incorporated contractor, a responsible official of the contractor, has made a good faith effort to determine whether forced or indentured child labor was used to mine, produce or manufacture any product furnished under the contract and that, on the basis of those efforts, the contractor is unaware of any such use of child labor. See 48 CFR Subpart 22.15. cprice-sewell on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES II. Update to EO 13126 List Pursuant to Sections D through G of the Procedural Guidelines, the EO 13126 List may be updated through considerations of submissions by individuals or through OCFT’s own initiative. When updating the List on its own initiative, the Department of Labor must publish in the Federal Register a notice of initial determination, which includes any proposed alteration to the List. The Department will consider all public comments prior to the publication of a final determination of an updated list, which is made in consultation and cooperation with the Departments of State and Homeland Security. VerDate Nov<24>2008 15:23 Sep 10, 2009 Jkt 217001 III. Definition of Forced/Indentured Child Labor Under Section 6(c) of EO 13126: ‘‘Forced or indentured child labor’’ means all work or service— (1) Exacted from any person under the age of 18 under the menace of any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer himself voluntarily; or (2) Performed by any person under the age of 18 pursuant to a contract the enforcement of which can be accomplished by process or penalties. Information Sought The Department is requesting public comment on the proposed updated EO 13126 List (see list of products and countries below), the inclusion of certain products on the List, the exclusion of other products from the List, and any other issue related to the fair and effective implementation of this aspect of EO 13126. This notice is a general solicitation of comments from the public. All submitted comments will be made a part of the record of the review referred to above and will be made available for public inspection. In preparing the initial determination updating the List, the Department of Labor considered the products and countries mentioned in its child labor reports. It also considered the testimony, written submissions, and other information presented to the Department, as well as research on 77 countries carried out by the Department, in connection with its mandates under the 2005 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) to produce a ‘‘List of Goods from Countries that the Bureau of International Labor Affairs has Reason to Believe are Produced by Forced Labor or Child Labor in Violation of International Standards.’’ The TVPRA list encompassed both goods made with forced labor and child labor, whereas the EO 13126 List only includes products made with forced or indentured child labor. Information on the TVPRA can be found at https:// www.dol.gov/ILAB/programs/ocft/ tvpra.htm. Finally, the Department considered information provided in two public submissions alleging forced or indentured child labor. The first was a public submission by Free the Slaves alleging forced child labor in the cocoa industry in Cote d’Ivoire, which was accepted for review by the Department on March 20, 2001. The second was a public submission accepted for review on October 1, 2007 by State Department Watch alleging the use of forced child labor in the production of bricks, coal, PO 00000 Frm 00063 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 foundry products, chemicals, cotton, grape products, toys, and fireworks in China. The Department has consulted and cooperated with the Departments of State and Homeland Security in the initial determination of the updated list of products. In developing the updated list of products, our review focused on available information concerning the use of forced or indentured child labor. The lack of available information does not, by itself, establish that, in any particular country, or for any particular product, forced or indentured child labor is not being used. Government resources for acquiring information are limited. In addition, information about actual working conditions in some countries is difficult or impossible to obtain, for a variety of reasons. For example, governments may be unable or unwilling to cooperate with international efforts, or the efforts of non-governmental organizations, to uncover and address abuses. Institutions or organizations that might uncover such information, such as free and independent news media, trade unions, and non-governmental organizations may not exist. In short, the list of products should not be taken as presenting a complete picture of the use of forced or indentured child labor around the world. As outlined in the Procedural Guidelines, several factors were weighed in determining whether or not a product should be placed on the updated list: the nature of the information describing the use of forced or indentured child labor; the source of the information; the date of the information; the extent of corroboration of the information by appropriate sources; whether the information involved more than an isolated incident; and whether recent and credible efforts are being made to address forced or indentured child labor in a particular country and industry. Based on recent, credible, and appropriately corroborated information from various sources, the Departments of Labor, State, and Homeland Security have preliminarily concluded that there is a reasonable basis to believe that the following products, identified by their country of origin, might have been mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or indentured child labor. The below list of products, by country of origin, constitutes the initial determination updating the EO 13126 list issued January 18, 2001. Product Bamboo .................... E:\FR\FM\11SEN1.SGM 11SEN1 Countries Burma 46796 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 175 / Friday, September 11, 2009 / Notices Product Beans (green, soy, yellow). Brazil Nuts/Chestnuts Bricks ........................ Carpets ..................... Charcoal ................... Coal .......................... Coca (stimulant plant) Cocoa ....................... Coffee ....................... Cotton ....................... Cottonseed (hybrid) .. Diamonds .................. Electronics ................ Embroidered Textiles (zari). Garments .................. Gold .......................... Granite ...................... Gravel (crushed stones). Pornography ............. Rice ........................... Rubber ...................... Shrimp ...................... Stones ....................... Sugarcane ................ Teak .......................... Tilapia (fish) .............. Tobacco .................... Toys .......................... cprice-sewell on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES periodically, to add and/or delete products, as justified by new information. Countries Burma Bolivia Burma, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan India, Nepal, Pakistan Brazil Pakistan Colombia Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria Cote d’Ivoire Benin, Burkina Faso, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan India Sierra Leone China India, Nepal Argentina, India, Thailand Burkina Faso Nigeria Nigeria Russia Burma, India, Mali Burma Thailand India, Nepal Bolivia, Burma Burma Ghana Malawi China The Department of Labor invites public comment on whether these products (and/or other products, regardless of whether they are mentioned in this Notice) should be included on the updated List of products requiring Federal contractor certification as to the use of forced or indentured child labor. To the extent possible, comments provided should address the Procedural Guideline factors discussed above. The Department is also interested in public comments relating to whether products initially determined to be on the List are designated with appropriate specificity and what, if any, alternative designations would better serve the purposes of EO 13126. The bibliographies providing the preliminary basis for including each product on the list are available on the Internet at https://www.dol.gov/ILAB/ regs/eo13126/main.htm. As explained, following receipt and consideration of comments on the updated List set out above, the Department of Labor, in consultation and cooperation with the Departments of State Homeland Security, will issue a final determination in the Federal Register providing a final list of products. The Department of Labor intends to continue to revise the List VerDate Nov<24>2008 15:23 Sep 10, 2009 Jkt 217001 Signed at Washington, DC, this 2nd day of September 2009. Sandra Polaski, Deputy Undersecretary, Bureau of International Labor Affairs. [FR Doc. E9–21507 Filed 9–10–09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4510–28–P OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET Compliance Assistance Resources and Points of Contact Available to Small Businesses AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: In accordance with the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3520), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is publishing a ‘‘list of the compliance assistance resources available to small businesses’’ and a list of the points of contacts in agencies ‘‘to act as a liaison between the agency and small business concerns’’ with respect to the collection of information and the control of paperwork. This information is posted on the following Web site: https:// www.business.gov/business-law/ contacts/federal/. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wendy Liberante, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, E-mail: wliberante@omb.eop.gov, Telephone: (202) 395–3647. Inquiries may be submitted by facsimile to (202) 395– 5167. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107–198) requires OMB to ‘‘publish in the Federal Register and make available on the Internet (in consultation with the Small Business Administration) on an annual basis a list of the compliance assistance resources available to small businesses’’ (44 U.S.C. 3504(c)(6)). OMB has, with the active assistance and support of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Business Gateway Program, assembled a list of the compliance assistance resources available to small businesses. This list is available today on the following Web site: https:// www.business.gov/business-law/ contacts/federal/. There is also a link to this information on the OMB Web site. In addition, under another provision of PO 00000 Frm 00064 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 this Act, ‘‘each agency shall, with respect to the collection of information and the control of paperwork, establish 1 point of contact in the agency to act as a liaison between the agency and small business concerns’’ (44 U.S.C. 3506(i)(1)). These contacts are also available at https://www.business.gov/ business-law/contacts/federal/. OMB and SBA have chosen to discharge this statutory responsibility by publishing agency compliance contact information on the business.gov Web site. Business.gov delivers compliance information to the public more effectively than having businesses go to individual agency Web sites, thereby improving the probability of success for business owners and agency regulatory programs. The public is not only able to find agency points of contact for compliance under the ‘‘contacts and help’’ tab on Business.gov, but when users look for information in the ‘‘small business guides’’ on particular topics, the relevant agency points of contact automatically appear as part of the guide. Kevin Neyland, Acting Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. [FR Doc. E9–21965 Filed 9–10–09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3110–01–P NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Notice of Permit Application Received Under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 National Science Foundation. Notice of permit applications received under the Antarctic Conservation Act. AGENCY: ACTION: SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the National Science Foundation (NSF) has received a waste management permit application for operation of a remote field support and emergency provisions for the Expedition Vessel, Kapitan Khlebnikov for the 2009–2010 season and two following austral summers. The application is submitted to NSF pursuant to regulations issued under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978. DATES: Interested parties are invited to submit written data, comments, or views with respect to this permit application within October 13, 2009. Permit applications may be inspected by interested parties at the Permit Office, address below. ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Permit Office, Room 755, Office of Polar Programs, National E:\FR\FM\11SEN1.SGM 11SEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 175 (Friday, September 11, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46794-46796]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-21507]


=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Notice of Initial Determination Updating the List of Products 
Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced/Indentured 
Child Labor Pursuant to Executive Order 13126

AGENCY: Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Labor.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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

SUMMARY: This initial determination proposes to update the list 
required by Executive Order No. 13126 (``Prohibition of Acquisition of 
Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor''), in accordance 
with the ``Procedural Guidelines for the Maintenance of the List of 
Products Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or 
Indentured Child Labor.'' This notice sets forth an updated list of 
products, by country of origin, which the Department of Labor 
preliminarily believes might have been mined, produced, or manufactured 
by forced or indentured child labor. The Department of Labor invites 
public comment on its initial determination as to products that appear 
on the updated list set forth in this notice. The Department will 
consider all public comments prior to publishing a final determination 
updating the list of products, made in consultation and cooperation 
with the Department of State, and the Department of Homeland Security.

DATES: Information should be submitted to the Office of Child Labor, 
Forced Labor and Human Trafficking (OCFT) via one of the methods 
described below by 5 p.m., December 10, 2009.
    To Submit Information, or for Further Information, Contact: OCFT, 
Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor at 
(202) 693-4843 (this is not a toll free number). Comments, identified 
as ``Docket No. DOL-2009-0002,'' may be submitted by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
The portal includes instructions for submitting comments. Parties 
submitting responses electronically are encouraged not to submit paper 
copies.
     Facsimile (fax): OCFT at 202-693-4830.
     Mail, Express Delivery, Hand Delivery, and Messenger 
Service (2 copies): Charita Castro or Rachel Rigby at U.S. Department 
of Labor, OCFT, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW., Room S-5317, Washington, DC 20210.
     E-mail: EO13126@dol.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Executive Order No. 13126 (EO 13126), which was published in the 
Federal Register on June 16, 1999 (64 FR 32383), declared that it was 
``the policy of the United States Government * * * that the executive 
agencies shall take appropriate actions to enforce the laws prohibiting 
the manufacture or importation of good, wares, articles, and 
merchandise mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part by forced 
or indentured child labor.'' Pursuant to the EO 13126, and following 
public notice and comment, the Department of Labor published in the 
January 18, 2001, Federal Register, a

[[Page 46795]]

final list of products (the ``List''), identified by their country of 
origin, that the Department, in consultation and cooperation with the 
Departments of State and Treasury [relevant responsibilities now within 
the Department of Homeland Security], had a reasonable basis to believe 
might have been mined, produced or manufactured with forced or 
indentured child labor (66 FR 5353). In addition to the List, the 
Department also published on January 18, 2001, ``Procedural Guidelines 
for Maintenance of the List of Products Requiring Federal Contractor 
Certification as to Forced or Indentured Child Labor'' (Procedural 
Guidelines), which provide for maintaining, reviewing, and, as 
appropriate, revising the List (66 FR 5351). The current List and the 
Procedural Guidelines can be accessed on the Internet at https://www.dol.gov/ILAB/regs/eo13126/main.htm or can be obtained from: OCFT, 
Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Room S-5317, U.S. Department of 
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: 
(202) 693-4843; fax (202) 693-4830.
    Pursuant to Section 3 of the Executive Order, the Federal 
Acquisition Regulatory Councils published a final rule in the Federal 
Register on January 18, 2001, providing, amongst other requirements, 
that Federal contractors who supply products that appear on the List 
issued by the Department of Labor must certify to the contracting 
officer that the contractor, or, in the case of an incorporated 
contractor, a responsible official of the contractor, has made a good 
faith effort to determine whether forced or indentured child labor was 
used to mine, produce or manufacture any product furnished under the 
contract and that, on the basis of those efforts, the contractor is 
unaware of any such use of child labor. See 48 CFR Subpart 22.15.

II. Update to EO 13126 List

    Pursuant to Sections D through G of the Procedural Guidelines, the 
EO 13126 List may be updated through considerations of submissions by 
individuals or through OCFT's own initiative. When updating the List on 
its own initiative, the Department of Labor must publish in the Federal 
Register a notice of initial determination, which includes any proposed 
alteration to the List. The Department will consider all public 
comments prior to the publication of a final determination of an 
updated list, which is made in consultation and cooperation with the 
Departments of State and Homeland Security.

III. Definition of Forced/Indentured Child Labor

    Under Section 6(c) of EO 13126:
    ``Forced or indentured child labor'' means all work or service--
    (1) Exacted from any person under the age of 18 under the menace of 
any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not 
offer himself voluntarily; or
    (2) Performed by any person under the age of 18 pursuant to a 
contract the enforcement of which can be accomplished by process or 
penalties.

Information Sought

    The Department is requesting public comment on the proposed updated 
EO 13126 List (see list of products and countries below), the inclusion 
of certain products on the List, the exclusion of other products from 
the List, and any other issue related to the fair and effective 
implementation of this aspect of EO 13126. This notice is a general 
solicitation of comments from the public. All submitted comments will 
be made a part of the record of the review referred to above and will 
be made available for public inspection.
    In preparing the initial determination updating the List, the 
Department of Labor considered the products and countries mentioned in 
its child labor reports. It also considered the testimony, written 
submissions, and other information presented to the Department, as well 
as research on 77 countries carried out by the Department, in 
connection with its mandates under the 2005 Trafficking Victims 
Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) to produce a ``List of Goods 
from Countries that the Bureau of International Labor Affairs has 
Reason to Believe are Produced by Forced Labor or Child Labor in 
Violation of International Standards.'' The TVPRA list encompassed both 
goods made with forced labor and child labor, whereas the EO 13126 List 
only includes products made with forced or indentured child labor. 
Information on the TVPRA can be found at https://www.dol.gov/ILAB/programs/ocft/tvpra.htm. Finally, the Department considered information 
provided in two public submissions alleging forced or indentured child 
labor. The first was a public submission by Free the Slaves alleging 
forced child labor in the cocoa industry in Cote d'Ivoire, which was 
accepted for review by the Department on March 20, 2001. The second was 
a public submission accepted for review on October 1, 2007 by State 
Department Watch alleging the use of forced child labor in the 
production of bricks, coal, foundry products, chemicals, cotton, grape 
products, toys, and fireworks in China. The Department has consulted 
and cooperated with the Departments of State and Homeland Security in 
the initial determination of the updated list of products.
    In developing the updated list of products, our review focused on 
available information concerning the use of forced or indentured child 
labor. The lack of available information does not, by itself, establish 
that, in any particular country, or for any particular product, forced 
or indentured child labor is not being used. Government resources for 
acquiring information are limited. In addition, information about 
actual working conditions in some countries is difficult or impossible 
to obtain, for a variety of reasons. For example, governments may be 
unable or unwilling to cooperate with international efforts, or the 
efforts of non-governmental organizations, to uncover and address 
abuses. Institutions or organizations that might uncover such 
information, such as free and independent news media, trade unions, and 
non-governmental organizations may not exist. In short, the list of 
products should not be taken as presenting a complete picture of the 
use of forced or indentured child labor around the world.
    As outlined in the Procedural Guidelines, several factors were 
weighed in determining whether or not a product should be placed on the 
updated list: the nature of the information describing the use of 
forced or indentured child labor; the source of the information; the 
date of the information; the extent of corroboration of the information 
by appropriate sources; whether the information involved more than an 
isolated incident; and whether recent and credible efforts are being 
made to address forced or indentured child labor in a particular 
country and industry.
    Based on recent, credible, and appropriately corroborated 
information from various sources, the Departments of Labor, State, and 
Homeland Security have preliminarily concluded that there is a 
reasonable basis to believe that the following products, identified by 
their country of origin, might have been mined, produced, or 
manufactured by forced or indentured child labor. The below list of 
products, by country of origin, constitutes the initial determination 
updating the EO 13126 list issued January 18, 2001.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Product                             Countries
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bamboo..............................  Burma

[[Page 46796]]

 
Beans (green, soy, yellow)..........  Burma
Brazil Nuts/Chestnuts...............  Bolivia
Bricks..............................  Burma, China, India, Nepal,
                                       Pakistan
Carpets.............................  India, Nepal, Pakistan
Charcoal............................  Brazil
Coal................................  Pakistan
Coca (stimulant plant)..............  Colombia
Cocoa...............................  Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria
Coffee..............................  Cote d'Ivoire
Cotton..............................  Benin, Burkina Faso, China,
                                       Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
Cottonseed (hybrid).................  India
Diamonds............................  Sierra Leone
Electronics.........................  China
Embroidered Textiles (zari).........  India, Nepal
Garments............................  Argentina, India, Thailand
Gold................................  Burkina Faso
Granite.............................  Nigeria
Gravel (crushed stones).............  Nigeria
Pornography.........................  Russia
Rice................................  Burma, India, Mali
Rubber..............................  Burma
Shrimp..............................  Thailand
Stones..............................  India, Nepal
Sugarcane...........................  Bolivia, Burma
Teak................................  Burma
Tilapia (fish)......................  Ghana
Tobacco.............................  Malawi
Toys................................  China
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department of Labor invites public comment on whether these 
products (and/or other products, regardless of whether they are 
mentioned in this Notice) should be included on the updated List of 
products requiring Federal contractor certification as to the use of 
forced or indentured child labor. To the extent possible, comments 
provided should address the Procedural Guideline factors discussed 
above. The Department is also interested in public comments relating to 
whether products initially determined to be on the List are designated 
with appropriate specificity and what, if any, alternative designations 
would better serve the purposes of EO 13126.
    The bibliographies providing the preliminary basis for including 
each product on the list are available on the Internet at https://www.dol.gov/ILAB/regs/eo13126/main.htm.
    As explained, following receipt and consideration of comments on 
the updated List set out above, the Department of Labor, in 
consultation and cooperation with the Departments of State Homeland 
Security, will issue a final determination in the Federal Register 
providing a final list of products. The Department of Labor intends to 
continue to revise the List periodically, to add and/or delete 
products, as justified by new information.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 2nd day of September 2009.
Sandra Polaski,
Deputy Undersecretary, Bureau of International Labor Affairs.
[FR Doc. E9-21507 Filed 9-10-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-28-P
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