Notice of Proposed Procedural Guidelines for the Development and
Maintenance of the List of Goods From Countries Produced by Child Labor
or Forced Labor Pursuant to the Trafficking Victims Protection
Reauthorization Act of 2005
[10/01/2007]
Volume 72, Number 189, Page 55808-55811
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of the Secretary
Notice of Proposed Procedural Guidelines for the Development and
Maintenance of the List of Goods From Countries Produced by Child Labor
or Forced Labor Pursuant to the Trafficking Victims Protection
Reauthorization Act of 2005
AGENCY: Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments regarding proposed procedural
guidelines for the development and maintenance of a list of goods from
countries produced by child labor or forced labor in violation of
international standards.
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SUMMARY: This notice sets forth proposed procedural guidelines
pertaining to the development and maintenance of a list of goods from
foreign countries produced by child labor or forced labor in violation
of international standards (``the List''), pursuant to the Trafficking
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005. The guidelines provide
information as to the submission of information, review, and reporting
process used by the U.S. Department of Labor's (``DOL'') Office of
Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (``the Office'') in
maintaining and revising the List. DOL invites all interested persons
to submit written comments on the proposed guidelines.
DATES: Comments regarding the proposed procedural guidelines must be
received by the Office on or before October 31, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Comments, identified as ``Docket No. DOL-2007-0004,'' may be
submitted by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
The portal includes instructions for submitting comments. Parties
submitting responses electronically are encouraged not to submit paper
copies.
Facsimile (fax): ILAB/Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor,
and Human Trafficking at 202-693-4830.
Mail, Express Delivery, Hand Delivery, and Messenger
Service: Submit an original and three copies of written comments and
attachments to Charita Castro or Rachel Rigby at U.S. Department of
Labor, ILAB/Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking,
200 Constitution Ave., NW., Room S-5317, Washington, DC 20210. If
possible, submitters should provide written comments on a computer
disc.
All submissions received must include the agency name and docket
number. They should clearly identify the party filing the submission
and should be signed and dated. Note that security-related problems may
result in significant delays in receiving comments and other written
materials by mail.
Docket Access: All comments received will be made available to the
public on the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov
and at the U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave., NW., Room
S-5317, Washington, DC 20210. Because comments sent to the docket are
available for public inspection, the
[[Page 55809]]
Office cautions commenters against including in their comments personal
or confidential information such as social security numbers and birth
dates. The Office will not respond directly to comments or return them
to the submitter.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charita Castro or Rachel Rigby, Office
of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of
International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor at (202) 693-
4843; fax (202) 693-4830.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 105(b)(1) of the Trafficking Victims
Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (``TVPRA''), Public Law 109-164
(2006), directed the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Bureau of
International Labor Affairs (``ILAB'') of the U.S. Department of Labor
(``DOL''), to ``carry out additional activities to monitor and combat
forced labor and child labor in foreign countries.'' Section 105(b)(2)
lists these activities specifically as those to:
(A) Monitor the use of forced labor and child labor in violation of
international standards;
(B) Provide information regarding trafficking in persons for the
purpose of forced labor to the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking
of the Department of State for inclusion in trafficking in persons
report required by Section 110(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection
Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b));
(C) Develop and make available to the public 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;
(D) Work with persons who are involved in the production of goods
on the list described in subparagraph (C) to create a standard set of
practices that will reduce the likelihood that such persons will
produce goods using the labor described in such subparagraph; and
(E) Consult with other departments and agencies of the United
States Government to reduce forced and child labor internationally and
ensure that products made by forced labor and child labor in violation
of international standards are not imported into the United States.
See 22 U.S.C. 7112(b).
The Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking
within ILAB has been designated to carry out the DOL mandates in the
TVPRA. As part of these efforts, and in furtherance of ILAB's broader
mission of working to create a more stable, secure, and prosperous
international economic system in which the basic rights of workers and
children are respected and protected, the Office conducts research on
child labor and forced labor worldwide, consulting such sources as
DOL's Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor; the Department of
State's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and
Trafficking in Persons Reports; other reports by governmental, non-
governmental, and international organizations as well as academic and
research institutions; and other sources. These procedural guidelines
will provide a framework for ILAB's implementation of the TVPRA
mandate, by establishing procedures for the submission of information,
agency review, and reporting process in developing and maintaining the
List.
Once these procedural guidelines are finalized, the Office will
publish a request for information concerning goods produced by forced
labor or child labor in violation of international standards. The
Office may also conduct hearings to assist in the development of the
list of goods produced by forced labor or child labor in violation of
international standards (``the List''). Following the information-
gathering phase, the Office will evaluate the information obtained
according to the process outlined in its final procedural guidelines.
Goods and countries that meet these criteria outlined in the procedural
guidelines will be placed on a List which will be developed in
consultation with appropriate U.S. government agencies. The List will
be published in the Federal Register and on the DOL Web site.
DOL will continue to maintain and update the List over time,
through its own research, interagency consultations, and through public
submissions of information. Procedures for the ongoing maintenance of
the List are described below, and key terms used in these Guidelines
are defined below.
Proposed Procedural Guidelines
A. Sources of Information and Factors Considered for the Development of
the List
The Office will make use of all relevant information, whether
gathered through research, public submissions of information, a public
hearing, interagency consultations or other means, in developing the
List. In the interest of transparency, the Office will not rely on
confidential or classified information in developing the List. The
Office may request that any such information brought to its attention
be declassified. In evaluating information, the Office will consider
whether the situations described meet the definitions of child labor,
forced labor, and related terms, as defined in these guidelines. The
Office will also consider and weigh several factors, including:
1. Nature of information. Whether the information about child labor
or forced labor gathered from research, public submissions, hearing
testimony, or other sources is relevant and probative, and meets the
definitions of child labor or forced labor.
2. Date of information. Whether the information about child labor
or forced labor in the production of the good(s) is no more than 7
years old at the time of receipt. More current information will
generally be given priority, and information older than 7 years will
generally not be considered.
3. Source of information. Whether the information, whether from
primary or secondary sources, is from a source whose methodology, prior
publications, degree of familiarity and experience with international
labor standards, and/or reputation for accuracy and objectivity,
warrants a determination that it is relevant and probative.
4. Extent of corroboration. The extent to which the information
about the use of child labor or forced labor in the production of a
good(s) is corroborated by other sources.
5. Significant incidence of child labor or forced labor. Whether
the information about the use of child labor or forced labor in the
production of a good(s) warrants a determination that the incidence of
such practices is significant and/or prevalent in the country in
question. Information that relates only to a single company or
facility; or that indicates an isolated incident of child or forced
labor, will ordinarily not weigh in favor of a finding that a good is
produced in violation of international standards. Information that
demonstrates a significant incidence of forced labor or child labor in
the production of a particular good(s), although not necessarily
representing a pattern of practice in the industry as a whole, will
ordinarily weigh in favor of a finding that a good is produced in
violation of international standards.
In determining which goods are to be placed on the List, the Office
will as appropriate take into consideration the stages in the chain of
a good's production. Whether a good is placed on the List may depend on
which stage of production used child labor or forced labor. For
example, if child labor or forced labor was only used in the
extraction, harvesting, assembly, or production of raw materials or
[[Page 55810]]
component articles, and these are subsequently used under non-violative
conditions in the manufacture or processing of a final good, only the
raw materials/component articles and the country/ies where they were
extracted, harvested, assembled, or produced, as appropriate, may be
placed on the List. If child labor or forced labor was used in both the
production or extraction of raw materials/component articles and the
manufacture or processing of a final good, then both the raw materials/
component articles and the final good, and the country/ies in which
such labor was used, may be placed on the List. This is to ensure a
direct correspondence between the goods and countries which appear on
the List, and the use of child labor or forced labor.
Goods and countries that meet the criteria outlined in the
procedural guidelines will be placed on a List, which will be developed
in consultation with appropriate U.S. government agencies. Before
publication of the List, DOL will inform the relevant foreign
governments of their presence on the List and request their response.
DOL will review these responses and make a determination as to their
relevance. Government, industry, or third party efforts to combat child
labor or forced labor will be taken into consideration, although they
are not necessarily sufficient, in and of themselves, to prevent a good
and country from being listed. The List, along with a listing of the
sources used to identify the goods and countries on it, will be
published in the Federal Register and on the DOL Web site. The
published List will represent DOL's conclusions based on all relevant
information available at the time of publication.
For each good and country (``entry''), the List will indicate
whether the good is made using child labor, forced labor, or both. As
the List will continue to be maintained and updated, the List will
indicate the date when each entry was included. The List will not
include any company or individual name. DOL's published listing of
source material used in identifying goods and countries on the List
will be redacted to remove any company or individual name.
B. Maintenance of the List
1. Following publication of the List, the Office will periodically
review and revise the List, as appropriate. The Office conducts ongoing
research and monitoring of child labor and forced labor, and if
relevant information is obtained through such research, the Office may
add an entry to, or remove an entry from, the List using the process
described in section A above. The Office may also update the list on
the basis of public information submissions, as detailed below.
2. Any party may file an information submission with the Office
regarding the addition, maintenance, or removal of an entry from the
List.
3. The Office will determine whether to accept a submission of
information for review. The Office may communicate with the submitter
during this period regarding any matter relating to the submission. In
general, the Office will accept a submission of information if it
provides relevant and probative information and if a review of the
submission would not be inconsistent with applicable laws or
regulations.
4. The Office may decline to accept a submission for review if it
determines that: the submission does not identify clearly the party
filing the submission or is not signed and dated; the submission
contains confidential or classified information; the submission does
not provide relevant or probative information; or, the information is
not within the scope of the TVPRA and/or does not address child labor
or forced labor as defined herein. Whether or not the Office accepts a
submission for review, all submissions received will be made available
to the public on the DOL Web site, consistent with applicable laws or
regulations.
5. If the Office accepts a submission of information, the Office
will conduct such further examination of other available information
relating to the good and country as necessary and appropriate to assist
the Office in making a determination concerning the addition,
maintenance, or removal of the good from the List. The Office will
undertake consultations with relevant U.S. government agencies and may
hold a public hearing(s) for the purpose of receiving relevant
information from interested persons.
6. In order for an entry to be removed from the List, any person
filing information regarding the entry must provide information that
demonstrates that there is no significant incidence of child labor or
forced labor in the production of the particular good in the country in
question. Government, industry, or third party efforts to combat child
labor or forced labor will be taken into consideration, although they
are not necessarily sufficient, in and of themselves, to warrant
removal of a good and country from the List.
7. Where the Office has made a determination concerning the
addition, maintenance, or removal of the entry from the List, and where
otherwise appropriate, the Office will publish a revised List in the
Federal Register and on the DOL Web site.
C. Key Terms Used in the Guidelines
``Child Labor''--``Child labor'' means all work performed by a
person below the age of 15. It also includes all work performed by a
person below the age of 18 in the following practices: (A) All forms of
slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale or
trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom, or 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 purposes; (C) the use, procuring, or offering of a child
for illicit activities in particular for the production and trafficking
of drugs; 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 work referred to in subparagraph (D) shall be
determined by the laws, regulations, or competent authority of the
country involved. This definition shall not apply to work specifically
authorized by national laws, including work done by children and young
persons in schools for general, vocational or technical education or in
other training institutions, where such work is carried out in
accordance with conditions prescribed by the competent authority and
does not prejudice children's attendance in school or their capacity to
benefit from the instruction received.
``Countries''--``Countries'' means any foreign country or
territory, including any overseas dependent territory or possession of
a foreign country, or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
``Forced Labor''--``Forced labor'' means all work or service which
is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty for its
nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer himself
voluntarily, and includes indentured labor. ``Forced labor'' includes
work provided or obtained by force, fraud, or coercion, including (1)
By threats of serious harm to, or physical restraint against any
person; (2) by means of any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause
the person to believe that, if the person did not perform such labor or
services, that person or another person would suffer serious harm or
physical restraint; or (3) by means of the abuse or threatened abuse of
law or the legal process. For purposes of this definition, forced labor
does not include work specifically authorized by national laws where
such work is carried out in
[[Page 55811]]
accordance with conditions prescribed by the competent authority,
including (a) any work or service required by compulsory military
service laws for work of a purely military character; (b) work or
service which forms part of the normal civic obligations of the
citizens of a fully self-governing country; (c) work or service exacted
from any person as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law,
provided that the said work or service is carried out under the
supervision and control of a public authority; and (d) work or service
required in cases of emergency, such as in the event of war or of a
calamity or threatened calamity, fire, flood, famine, earthquake,
violent epidemic or epizootic diseases, invasion by animal, insect or
vegetable pests, and in general any circumstance that would endanger
the existence or the well-being of the whole or part of the population.
``Goods''--``Goods'' means goods, wares, articles, materials,
items, supplies, and merchandise.
``Indentured Labor''--``Indentured labor'' means all labor
undertaken pursuant to a contract entered into by an employee the
enforcement of which can be accompanied by process or penalties.
``International Standards''--``International standards'' means
generally accepted international standards relating to forced labor and
child labor, such as international conventions and treaties. These
Guidelines employ definitions of ``child labor'' and ``forced labor''
derived from international standards.
``Produced''--``Produced'' means mined, extracted, harvested,
farmed, produced, created, and manufactured.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 25th day of September 2007.
Charlotte M. Ponticelli,
Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs.
[FR Doc. E7-19310 Filed 9-28-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-28-P
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