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Child labor, under international standards, means work (excluding permissible light work) below the minimum age as established under national legislation—usually 14 or 15 years old—as well as the worst forms of child labor which, for children under the age of 18, includes all forms of slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, illicit activities, and hazardous work that is likely to harm their health, safety, or morals.
Forced labor, under international standards, is defined as "All work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered [themselves] voluntarily." (ILO Forced Labor Convention, 1930 (No. 29))
In addition to the fundamental ILO Conventions 29 and 105 that establish basic principles in support of the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor, the ILO has identified 11 indicators of forced labor. These indicators are workplace conditions that are often associated with forced labor.
Animal Feed
Baked Goods
Beverages
Biofuels
Cooking Oils
Cosmetics/Makeup
Infant Formula
Soap/Shampoo
| Rank | Country | Percent of World Production |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indonesia | 59% |
| 2 | Malaysia | 25% |
| 3 | Thailand | 4% |
| 4 | Colombia | 2% |
| 5 | Nigeria | 2% |
| 6 | Guatemala | 1% |
| 7 | Papua New Guinea | 1% |
| 8 | Honduras | 1% |
| 9 | Brazil | 1% |
| 10 | Côte d’Ivoire | 1% |
*all names in this story are fictional
Tristan is a migrant worker from East Nusa Tenggara Province in Indonesia. Opportunities in his hometown are hard to come by, so Tristan sought a job from a local recruiter to work on a palm oil plantation in Central Kalimantan, on another island far away from home.
When he arrived at the plantation, he was compelled to work in poor conditions under an unreasonable and exploitative quota system. Tristan, along with the other plantation workers, was forced to meet a steep daily quota of fresh fruit bunches. If he did not harvest enough of these fruits from oil palm trees, he would lose wages or even his job. Fearing these consequences, Tristan regularly worked late into the night, without overtime pay, straining to meet his quota in the isolated plantation’s hot and humid climate.
Often, Tristan’s wife, Endang, would help him so that he could meet his quota and earn his daily wages. Endang is not a worker at the company, but like other family members—including children—she lives at the plantation and becomes involved in the harvest, forced to work out of necessity.
Children of all ages also help their parents on plantations. After coming home from school, they pick up loose palm fruits, often for hours on end. Sometimes they even work during the school day or drop out of school to help their families. According to Indonesian laws and regulations, the working conditions on palm plantations are considered hazardous work for children.
At the plantation, Tristan, Endang, and others work in unsafe conditions. They use dangerous tools such as long sickles and machetes to harvest palm fruit bunches from the trees. They carry heavy loads and, without any personal protective equipment, they apply pesticides to crops and fields, which is hazardous to workers’ health.
The Department of Labor’s Better Trade Tool shows how American businesses import millions of dollars of palm oil from Indonesia.
Our research shows that the following palm oil products are produced with an input made by child labor and forced labor.
Government, private sector, and multistakeholder efforts have the goal of improving conditions throughout the palm oil supply chain. The Indonesian government is mandating Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) Plantation Certification for all plantation growers in the country by 2025. Other bodies with certification schemes include the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO). Still, additional efforts are needed to address child labor and forced labor.
Below are ILAB’s recommendations for actors across the palm oil supply chain:
Establish effective due diligence and social compliance systems to reduce labor risks in the palm oil supply chain. Relevant actions include:
Focusing on the efforts of certain U.S. trade beneficiary countries and territories to eliminate the worst forms of child labor through legislation, enforcement mechanisms, policies, and social programs.
Listing goods that ILAB has reason to believe are produced by child labor or forced labor, including, to the extent practicable, goods that are produced with inputs that are produced with forced labor or child labor.
Containing goods and their source countries that ILAB, along with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, have reason to believe are made by forced or indentured child labor.
Sweat & Toil: Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking Around the World is a comprehensive resource developed by ILAB documenting child labor and forced labor worldwide. Data and research in this app are taken from ILAB's three flagship reports. This app fits these three information-packed reports the size of a phone book in the palm of your hand.
To help mitigate child labor and forced labor risks, Comply Chain: Business Tools for Labor Compliance in Global Supply Chains, targets companies and industry groups seeking to develop robust social compliance systems for their global production. Comply Chain provides a practical, step-by-step guide on critical elements of social compliance and is designed for companies that do not have a social compliance system in place or those needing to strengthen their existing systems.
The Better Trade Tool empowers users to advance efforts in supply chain transparency as well as strategic sourcing priorities. This innovative tool integrates existing reporting developed by ILAB with U.S. import trade data, including Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes. The Better Trade Tool is intended to serve as a resource for users interested in learning about labor exploitation risks in global supply chains.
Check out the ILAB Knowledge Portal, a valuable tool for researchers, civil society organizations, other governments, and international organizations seeking to implement good practices in addressing child labor and forced labor worldwide. The portal makes grant-funded resources and evaluation report learnings publicly available and searchable online.
