Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Request for Information
Concerning Labor Rights in the Dominican Republic and Its Laws
Governing Exploitative Child Labor [11/03/2003]
Volume 68, Number 212, Page 62329-62330
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of the Secretary
Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Request for Information
Concerning Labor Rights in the Dominican Republic 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 comments from the public.
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SUMMARY: This notice is a request for comments from the public to
assist the Secretary of Labor, the United States Trade Representative,
and the Secretary of State in preparing reports regarding labor rights
in the Dominican Republic and describing the extent to which it 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. 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 the United
States Trade Representative, to be carried out by the Secretary of
Labor, the Secretary
[[Page 62330]]
of State and the United States Trade Representative.
DATES: Public comments should be received no later than 5 p.m. December
18, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Persons submitting comments are strongly advised to make
such submissions by electronic mail to the following address: FRFTADominicanRepublic@dol.gov. Submissions by facsimile may be sent
to: Betsy White, Office of International Economic Affairs, Bureau of
International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, at (202) 693-
4851.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions regarding the
submissions, please contact Betsy White, Office of International
Economic Affairs, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S.
Department of Labor, at (202) 693-4919, facsimile (202) 693-4851. These
are not toll-free numbers. Substantive questions concerning the labor
rights report and/or the report on the Dominican Republic'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, facsimile
(202) 693-4851.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On August 4, 2003, in accordance with section 2104(a)(1) of the
Trade Act of 2002, the United States Trade Representative (USTR)
notified the Congress of the President's intent to enter into free
trade negotiations with the Dominican Republic. The notification
letters to the Congress can be found on the USTR Web site at http://www.ustr.gov/new/fta/Dr/2003-08-04-notification-house.pdf and http://
>http:///
respectively. At a public hearing conducted on October 8, 2003, the
interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) received written
comments and oral testimony from the public to assist USTR in
formulating positions and proposals with respect to all aspects of the
negotiations (68 FR 51167) (Aug. 28, 2003). It is intended that
negotiations will be launched in January 2004.
Through these negotiations, we expect to provide for essentially
the same disciplines as those in the Free Trade Agreement we are
currently negotiating with the five members of the Central American
Economic Integration System (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, and Nicaragua) (CAFTA), and to negotiate specific market
access commitments with the Dominican Republic.
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 Division B of the Trade Act, ``Bipartisan Trade
Promotion Authority.'' Section 2102(a)-(c) of the Trade Act 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. The President assigned several of the functions in section
2102(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. Labor laws of the Dominican Republic, including laws governing
exploitative child labor, and that country's implementation and
enforcement of its labor laws and regulations;
2. The situation in the Dominican Republic with respect to core
labor standards;
3. Steps taken by the Dominican Republic to comply with
International Labor Organization Convention No. 182 on the worst forms
of child labor; and
4. The nature and extent, if any, of exploitative child labor in
the Dominican Republic.
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
This document is a request for facts or opinions submitted in
response to a general solicitation of comments from the public. 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: FRFTADominicanRepublic@dol.gov. Persons
making submissions by e-mail should use the following subject line:
``Dominican Republic: 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 20210, 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 27th of October 2003.
Arnold Levine,
Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-27569 Filed 10-31-03; 8:45 am]
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