Foreign Agricultural Service April 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) invites public comment on the guidelines included at the end of this notice for a voluntary initiative to enable entities to reduce the likelihood that agricultural products or commodities imported into the United States are produced by forced labor or child labor. In addition to accepting written comments, USDA will be holding a public meeting of the Consultative Group to Eliminate the Use of Child Labor and Forced Labor in Imported Agricultural Products (Consultative Group) on May 12, 2011 to hear oral comments on the guidelines. The Notice sets forth the guidelines, as well as the process for submitting written comments and for requesting to appear at the public meeting. Issuance of these guidelines and creation of the Consultative Group were provided for in The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the Act), also known as the 2008 Farm Bill.