Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Request for Information
Concerning Labor Rights in Singapore and Its Laws Governing
Exploitative Child Labor [01/28/2003]
Volume 68, Number 18, Page 4239-4240
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of the Secretary
Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Request for Information
Concerning Labor Rights in Singapore and Its Laws Governing
Exploitative Child Labor
AGENCIES: Office of the Secretary, Labor; Office of the United States
Trade Representative and Department of State.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: This notice is a request for public comments to assist the
Secretary of Labor, the United States Trade Representative and the
Secretary of State in preparing reports regarding labor rights in
Singapore and describing the extent to which Singapore has in effect
laws governing exploitative child labor. The Trade Act of 2002 requires
reports on these issues and others when the President intends to use
trade promotion authority procedures in connection with legislation
approving and implementing a trade agreement. Negotiators for the
United States and Singapore announced that they approved the elements
of such an agreement on November 19, 2002. The President assigned the
functions of preparing reports regarding labor rights and the existence
of laws governing exploitative child labor to the Secretary of Labor,
in consultation with the Secretary of State and the United States Trade
Representative. The Secretary of Labor further assigned these functions
to the Secretary of State and United States Trade Representative.
[[Page 4240]]
DATES: Public comments should be received no later than 5 p.m. February
27, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Persons submitting comments are strongly advised to make
such submissions by electronic mail to the following address:
FRFTASINGAPORE@dol.gov. Submissions by facsimile may be sent to: Betsy
White at the Office of International Economic Affairs, Bureau of
International Labor Affairs (202) 693-4851.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions regarding the
submissions please contact Betsy White, Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, Office of International Economic Affairs, at (202) 693-4919,
facsimile (202) 693-4851. This is not a toll-free number. Substantive
questions concerning the labor rights report and/or the report on
Singapore's laws governing exploitative child labor should be addressed
to Jorge Perez-Lopez, Office of International Economic Affairs, Bureau
of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, telephone (202) 693-
4883.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Trade Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-210) (``the Trade Act'') sets
forth special procedures (Trade Promotion Authority) for approval and
implementation of Agreements subject to meeting conditions and
requirements in the Act. Division B of the Trade Act, entitled the
Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002, includes negotiating
objectives and a listing of priorities for the President to promote in
order to ``address and maintain United States competitiveness in the
global economy'' in pursuing future trade agreements. 19 U.S.C.
3802(a)-(c). The President delegated several of the functions in
section 3802(c) to the Secretary of Labor. (E.O. 13277). These include
the functions set forth in section 2102(c)(8), which requires that the
President ``in connection with any trade negotiations entered into
under this Act, submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a
meaningful labor rights report of the country, or countries, with
respect to which the President is negotiating * * *'' and the function
in section 2102(c)(9), which requires that the President ``with respect
to any trade agreement which the President seeks to implement under
trade authorities procedures, submit to the Congress a report
describing the extent to which the country or countries that are
parties to the agreement have in effect laws governing exploitative
child labor.''
II. Information Sought
Interested parties are invited to submit written information as
specified below to be taken into account in drafting the required
reports. Materials submitted should be confined to the specific topics
of the reports. In particular, agencies are seeking written submissions
on the following topics:
1. Singapore's labor laws, including laws governing exploitative
child labor, and Singapore's implementation and enforcement of such
laws and regulations;
2. The situation in Singapore with respect to core labor standards;
3. Steps taken by Singapore to comply with International Labor
Organization Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor; and
4. The nature and extent, if any, of exploitative child labor in
Singapore.
Section 2113(6) of the Trade Act defines ``core labor standards''
as:
(A) The right of association;
(B) The right to organize and bargain collectively;
(C) A prohibition on the use of any form of forced or compulsory
labor;
(D) A minimum age for the employment of children; and
(E) Acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages,
hours of work, and occupational safety and health.
III. Requirements for Submissions
To ensure prompt and full consideration of submissions, we strongly
recommend that interested persons submit comments by electronic mail to
the following e-mail address: FRFTASINGAPORE@dol.gov. Persons making
submissions by e-mail should use the following subject line:
``Singapore: Labor Rights and Child Labor Reports.'' Documents should
be submitted in WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) format. Supporting
documentation submitted as spreadsheets is acceptable in Quattro Pro or
Excel format. Persons who make submissions by e-mail should not provide
separate cover letters; information that might appear in a cover letter
should be included in the submission itself. Similarly, to the extent
possible, any attachments to the submission should be included in the
same file as the submission itself, and not as separate files. Written
comments will be placed in a file open to public inspection at the
Department of Labor, Room S-5317, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington DC and in the USTR Reading Room in Room 3 of the annex of
the Office of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. An
appointment to review the file at the Department of Labor may be made
by contacting Betsy White at (202) 693-4919. An appointment to review
the file at USTR may be made by calling (202) 395-6186. The USTR
Reading Room is generally open to the public from 10 a.m.-12 noon and
1-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Appointments must be scheduled at least
48 hours in advance.
Signed at Washington, DC this 22nd day of January, 2003.
Michael A. Magan,
Associate Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-1851 Filed 1-27-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-28-P
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