Request for Information on Efforts by Certain Countries To
Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor [07/14/2004]
Volume 69, Number 134, Page 42212-42214
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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, United States
Department of Labor.
ACTION: Request for information on efforts by certain countries to
eliminate the worst forms of child labor.
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SUMMARY: This notice is a request for information for use by the
Department of Labor in preparation of an annual report on certain trade
beneficiary countries' implementation of international commitments to
eliminate the worst forms of child labor. This will be the fourth such
report by the Department of Labor under the Trade and Development Act
of 2000 (TDA).
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., August 13, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Written submissions should be addressed to Tina Faulkner at
the International Child Labor Program, Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room
S-5307, Washington, DC 20210.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tina Faulkner, Bureau of International
Labor Affairs, International Child Labor Program, at (202) 693-4846;
fax (202)
[[Page 42213]]
693-4830. The Department of Labor's international child labor reports
can be found on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/media/reports/iclp/main.htm
or can be obtained from the International Child Labor
Program.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Trade and Development Act of 2000 [Pub.
L. 106-200], established a new eligibility criterion for receipt of
trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP),
Caribbean Basin Trade and Partnership Act (CBTPA), and Africa Growth
and Opportunity Act (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 President's annual report on the status of
internationally recognized worker rights 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.''
Likewise, Title II of the TDA includes as a criterion 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: Afghanistan,
Albania, Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina,
Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands,
British Indian Ocean Territory, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi,
Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad,
Christmas Islands, Cocos Islands, Colombia, Comoros, Republic of Congo,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote
d'Ivoire, Croatia, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador,
Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Falkland
Islands, Fiji, Gabon, the Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada,
Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Heard Island and
MacDonald Islands, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan,
Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Macedonia,
Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia,
Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Niue,
Norfolk Island, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay,
Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn Island, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint
Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa,
Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon
Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland,
Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tokelau Island, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago,
Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uruguay,
Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Wallis and Futuna, West Bank and Gaza
Strip, Western Sahara, Republic of Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Countries eligible or potentially eligible for additional benefits
under the AGOA include: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cape Verde,
Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote
d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea
Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania,
Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and
Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland,
Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
Countries potentially eligible for additional benefits under the
CBTPA are: Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua,
Panama, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Information Sought
The Department invites interested parties to submit written
information relevant to the findings to be made by the Department of
Labor under the TDA, for all listed countries. 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:
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 laws and regulations;
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 to 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.
Information relating to the nature and extent of child labor in the
country is also sought.
Definition of Worst Forms of Child Labor
The term ``worst forms of child labor'' is defined in section
412(b) of the TDA as comprising:
* * * (A) 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;
(B) The use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for
the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;
(C) 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; 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 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
[[Page 42214]]
conditions where children are unreasonably confined to the premises of
the employer.
The TDA Conference Report further indicated that this phrase 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 9th day of July, 2004.
Arnold Levine,
Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for International Labor Affairs.
[FR Doc. 04-15963 Filed 7-13-04; 8:45 am]
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