Research, Policy and Awareness Raising
The Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking (OCFT) plays an active role in research and policy initiatives relating to international child labor, forced labor and human trafficking. Pursuant to Congressional requests through the Trade and Development Act, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, and Executive Order No. 13126, OCFT has published annual reports on international worst forms of child labor since 1994.
Trade and Development Act
(Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor)
The Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, published annually since 2002, is a report mandated by the Trade and Development Act of 2000 (TDA). The TDA requires that in order to be eligible for certain U.S. trade programs, countries must make efforts to address the worst forms of child labor. These requirements apply under the Generalized System of Preferences, Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Initiative, Andean Trade Preference Act, and African Growth and Opportunities Act. The Department of Labor's TDA report produces information on country efforts to comply with these requirements.
The TDA report contains narrative profiles of 144 countries and territories (1). Each profile includes information on the prevalence and sectoral distribution of the worst forms of child labor in the country or territory; national laws and regulations against the worst forms of child labor; institutional mechanisms for coordination and enforcement; government policies on the worst forms of child labor; and social programs to eliminate or prevent the worst forms of child labor. Click here to view DOL's Trade and Development Act Annual Reports.
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act
(List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor)
The Department of Labor's List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor is a report mandated by the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2005. DOL published its first TVPRA List in 2009, and has issued updates in 2010 and 2011. The TVPRA List includes 130 goods from 71 countries. It focuses on goods made with child labor or forced labor in violation of international standards. The report and related information can be found on the TVPRA page.
Executive Order No. 13126
(List of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor)
Executive Order (EO) No. 13126 prohibits federal agencies from buying products that have been made with forced or indentured child labor. The Department of Labor, in cooperation with the Department Homeland Security and the Department of State, publishes an annual List of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor. This list includes 31 products made by forced or indentured child labor from 23 countries.The list is updated periodically based on new information and according to the Procedural Guidelines for the Maintenance of the List of Products. [List of Products]
(1) There were 144 countries and territories in the 2010 report but the number may vary by year depending on eligibility criteria.
