Notice of Initial Determination Revising the List of Products Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured Child Labor, 62325-62326 [2020-21789]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 192 (Friday, October 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62325-62326]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21789]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR


Notice of Initial Determination Revising the List of Products 
Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured 
Child Labor

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

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This initial determination proposes to revise the list (E.O. 
List) required by the ``Prohibition of Acquisition of Products Produced 
by Forced or Indentured Child Labor'' in accordance with the Department 
of Labor's ``Procedural Guidelines for the Maintenance of the List of 
Products Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or 
Indentured Child Labor'' (the Procedural Guidelines). The E.O. List 
identifies products by their country of origin that the Department of 
Labor (DOL), in consultation and cooperation with the Departments of 
State and Homeland Security (the three Departments), has a reasonable 
basis to believe might have been mined, produced, or manufactured by 
forced or indentured child labor. This notice proposes to add one new 
line item (bricks from Cambodia) to the E.O. List. DOL invites public 
comment on this initial determination. The three Departments will 
consider all public comments prior to publishing a final determination 
revising the E.O. List.

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 no later than 5 p.m., December 1, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marcia Eugenio, Director, Office of 
Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of 
International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, at (202) 693-
4843 (this is not a toll free number). Individuals with hearing or 
speech impairments may access the telephone number above via TTY by 
calling the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-877-889-5627. 
Comments, identified as ``Docket No. DOL-2020-0008,'' 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.
     Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Information Sought

    DOL is requesting public comment on the revisions to the list 
proposed below, as well as any other issue related to the fair and 
effective implementation of Executive Order (E.O.) 13126. This notice 
is a general solicitation of comments from the public. All submitted 
comments will be made a part of the public record and will be available 
for inspection on https://www.regulations.gov.
    In conducting research for this initial determination, DOL 
considered a wide variety of materials based on its own research and 
originating from other U.S. Government agencies, foreign governments, 
international organizations, non-governmental organizations, U.S. 
Government-funded technical assistance and field research projects, 
academic and other independent research, media, and other sources. The 
Department of State and U.S. embassies and consulates abroad also 
provide important information by gathering data from contacts, 
conducting site visits, and reviewing local media sources. In 
developing the proposed revision to the E.O. List, DOL's review focused 
on information concerning the use of forced or indentured child labor 
that was available from the above sources.
    As outlined in the Procedural Guidelines, several factors were 
weighed in determining whether or not a product should be placed on the 
revised E.O. 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 other sources; whether the information involved more than an 
isolated incident; and whether

[[Page 62326]]

recent and credible efforts are being made to address forced or 
indentured child labor in a particular country or industry (66 FR 
5351).
    This notice constitutes the initial determination to revise the 
E.O. List issued March 25, 2019.
    Based on recent credible and appropriately corroborated information 
from various sources, DOL preliminarily concludes that there is a 
reasonable basis to believe that the following product, identified by 
the country of origin, might have been mined, produced, or manufactured 
by forced or indentured child labor:

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                  Product                              Country
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Bricks....................................  Cambodia.
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    DOL invites public comment on whether these products (and/or other 
products, regardless of whether they are mentioned in this Notice) 
should be included in or removed from the revised E.O. List. To the 
extent possible, comments provided should address the criteria for 
inclusion of a product on the E.O. List contained in the Procedural 
Guidelines discussed above.
    Following receipt and consideration of comments on the addition to 
the E.O. List set out above, DOL, in consultation and cooperation with 
the Departments of State and Homeland Security, will issue a final 
determination in the Federal Register. The three Departments intend to 
continue to revise the E.O. List periodically to add and/or remove 
products as warranted by the receipt of new and credible information.

II. Background

    On June 12, 1999, President Clinton signed E.O. 13126, which was 
published in the Federal Register on June 16, 1999 (64 FR 32383). E.O. 
13126 declared that it was ``the policy of the United States Government 
. . . that executive agencies shall take appropriate actions to enforce 
the laws prohibiting the manufacture or importation of goods, wares, 
articles, and merchandise mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in 
part by forced or indentured child labor.'' Pursuant to E.O. 13126, and 
following public notice and comment, DOL published in the January 18, 
2001, Federal Register the first E.O. List of products, along with 
their respective countries of origin, that DOL, in consultation and 
cooperation with the Departments of State and Treasury (whose relevant 
responsibilities are 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).
    The Procedural Guidelines provide that the E.O. List may be revised 
through consideration of submissions by individuals and on DOL's own 
initiative. When proposing a revision to the E.O. List, DOL must 
publish in the Federal Register a notice of initial determination, 
which includes any proposed alteration to the E.O. List. DOL will 
consider all public comments prior to the publication of a final 
determination of a revised E.O. List, which is made in consultation and 
cooperation with the Departments of State and Homeland Security.
    On January 18, 2001, pursuant to Section 3 of E.O. 13126, the 
Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council published a final rule to 
implement specific provisions of E.O. 13126 that requires, among other 
things, that federal contractors who supply products that appear on the 
E.O. List 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 
forced or indentured child labor. See 48 CFR Subpart 22.15.
    On September 11, 2009, DOL published an initial determination in 
the Federal Register proposing to revise the E.O. List to include 29 
products from 21 countries. The Notice requested public comments for a 
period of 90 days. Public comments were received and reviewed by all 
relevant agencies and a final determination was issued on July 20, 
2010. The most recent E.O. List, finalized on March 25, 2019, includes 
34 products from 25 countries.
    The current E.O. List and the Procedural Guidelines can be accessed 
on the internet at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-products.

III. Definitions

    Under Section 6(c) of E.O. 13126:
    Forced or indentured child labor--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.

    Authority: Executive Order 13126 of June 12, 1999.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 28th day of September 2020.
Grant Lebens,
Chief of Staff, Bureau of International Labor Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2020-21789 Filed 10-1-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-28-P