[PDF Version]

[[Page 49465]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Part III

Department of Labor

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Bureau of International Labor Affairs

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Request for Information on Efforts by Certain Countries To Eliminate 
the Worst Forms of Child Labor; Notice


[[Page 49466]]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of International Labor Affairs

 
Request for Information on Efforts by Certain Countries To 
Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor

AGENCY: The Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Labor.

ACTION: Request for information on efforts by certain countries to 
eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice is a request for information for use in Department 
of Labor research regarding the implementation of international 
commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor by countries 
seeking benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), 
and/or eligibility for additional benefits provided for in the 
Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) or the African Growth and 
Development Act (AGOA). The recently passed Trade and Development Act 
of 2000 (TDA) establishes a new eligibility criterion, concerning 
efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, for receipt of 
these trade benefits. The TDA requires the Secretary of Labor to make 
findings with respect to beneficiary countries' implementation of their 
international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

DATES: Submitters of information are requested to provide two (2) 
copies of their written submission to the International Child Labor 
Program at the address below by 5 p.m. on September 25, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written submissions should be addressed to Kevin Willcutts 
at the International Child Labor Program, Bureau of International Labor 
Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 
S-5303, Washington, DC 20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Willcutts, International Child 
Labor Program, Bureau of International Labor Affairs at (202)208-4843; 
fax (202)219-4923. The Department of Labor's reports on international 
child labor can be accessed on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/dol/
ilab/public/programs/iclp/ or can be obtained from the International 
Child Labor Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The recently passed Trade and Development 
Act of 2000 [Pub. L. 106-200], signed into law on May 18, 2000, 
establishes a new eligibility criterion concerning efforts to eliminate 
the worst forms of child labor for receipt of trade benefits under the 
GSP, CBTPA, and AGOA programs. The TDA amends the GSP reporting 
requirements of the Trade Act of 1974 (Section 504) [19 U.S.C. 2464] to 
require that the annual report include ``findings by the Secretary of 
Labor with respect to the beneficiary country's implementation of its 
international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child 
labor.''
    Title II of the TDA includes as a criteria for receiving benefits 
under the CBTPA ``whether the country has implemented its commitments 
to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, as defined in section 
507(6) of the Trade Act of 1974.'' The TDA Conference Report [Joint 
Explanatory Statement of the Committee of Conference, 106th 
Cong.2d.sess. (2000)] indicates that ``the conferees intend that the 
GSP standard, including the provision with respect to implementation of 
obligations to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, apply to 
eligibility for those additional benefits'' [provided for in the AGOA.]

Scope of Report

    Countries presently eligible under the GSP are: Albania, Angola, 
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, 
Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, 
Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape 
Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, 
Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic 
of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El 
Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, the 
Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, 
Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, 
Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, 
Lithuania, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, 
Mauritius, Moldova, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Oman, 
Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, 
Poland, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint 
Vincent and the Grenadines, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, 
Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South 
Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, 
Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, 
Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Republic of Yemen, Zambia, and 
Zimbabwe.
    Countries potentially eligible for additional benefits under the 
AGOA are: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, 
Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cote 
d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial 
Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea 
Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, 
Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome & 
Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, 
Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
    Countries potentially eligible for additional benefits under the 
CBTPA are: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, 
Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, 
Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint 
Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, 
Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Saint Kitts-Nevis, 
Turks and Caicos Islands, and the British Virgin Islands.

Information Sought

    The Department invites written information relevant to the findings 
to be made by the Department of Labor under the TDA from all interested 
parties. Information provided through public submission will be 
considered by the Department of Labor in preparing its findings. 
Materials submitted should be confined to the specific topic of the 
study. In particular, the Department's Bureau of International Labor 
Affairs is seeking written submissions on the following topics as 
stipulated in the TDA Conference Report:
    1. Whether the country has adequate laws and regulations 
proscribing the worst forms of child labor;
    2. Whether the country has adequate laws and regulations for the 
implementation and enforcement of such measures;
    3. Whether the country has established formal institutional 
mechanisms to investigate and address complaints relating to 
allegations of the worst forms of child labor;
    4. Whether social programs exist in the country to prevent the 
engagement of children in the worst forms of child labor, and assist in 
the removal of children engaged in the worst forms of child labor;
    5. Whether the country has a comprehensive policy for the 
elimination of the worst forms of child labor;
    6. Whether the country is making continual progress toward 
eliminating the worst forms of child labor.

[[Page 49467]]

    Information relating to the nature and extent of child labor in the 
country is also sought.

Definition of ``Worst Forms of Child Labor''

    As stated in the TDA Conference Report, use of the term ``Worst 
Forms of Child Labor'' in the TDA follows International Labor 
Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182, which defines child as all 
persons under the age of 18, and the worst forms of child labor as 
comprising all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such 
as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and 
forced or compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory recruitment 
of children for use in armed conflict; the use, procuring or offering 
of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for 
pornographic performances; the use, procuring or offering of a child 
for illicit activities, in particular for the production and 
trafficking of drugs as defined in relevant international treaties; or 
any 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 TDA Conference Report noted that the phrase

    * * * 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 * * *

is to be defined as in Article II of Recommendation No. 190, which 
accompanies ILO Convention No. 182. This includes work that exposes 
children to physical, psychological, or sexual abuse; work underground, 
under water, at dangerous heights or in confined spaces; work with 
dangerous machinery, equipment or tools, or work under circumstances 
which involve the manual handling or transport of heavy loads; work in 
an unhealthy environment that exposes children to hazardous substances, 
agents or processes, or to temperatures, noise levels, or vibrations 
damaging to their health; and work under particularly difficult 
conditions such as for long hours, during the night or under conditions 
where children are unreasonably confined to the premises of the 
employer. The TDA Conference Report further indicated that the phrase

    * * * 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 * * *

be interpreted in a manner consistent with the intent of Article 4 of 
ILO Convention No. 182, which states that such work shall be determined 
by national laws or regulations or by the competent authority in the 
country involved.
    This notice is a general solicitation of comments from the public.

    Signed at Washington, DC this 3rd day of August, 2000.
Andrew J. Samet,
Deputy Under Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-20336 Filed 8-10-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-28-P