List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor

ILAB has reason to believe that electrolytic copper products and lithium-ion batteries produced in China are made with an input produced with child labor, specifically copper ore produced in the DRC. Copper ore from the DRC was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2009 for child labor. Children mine, collect, crush, and wash copper ore in the DRC’s artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector in Haut-Katanga and Lualaba. This ore is sold and traded to processing facilities in the DRC, where copper ore mined by children becomes mixed with copper ore from a variety of sources. In 2021 and 2022, China imported over 63% of DRC’s copper—some of which was produced with copper ore mined by children— for further refining and use in a variety of electrolytic (high purity) copper products including wires, bars, billets, plates, pipes, tubes, foil, and fittings. Electrolytic copper and copper alloys are used to produce lithium-ion batteries in China. This research suggests that further downstream products of copper ore, such as electric vehicles, electrical equipment, electrical wiring, brass, steel, telecommunications products, and construction materials, may be produced with an input produced with child labor.

Chinese Translation

There are reports that adults are forced to produce jujubes in China. Research indicates that Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities are subjected to forced labor in jujube harvesting and processing while being held as prisoners and as a result of state-sponsored labor transfer programs. China is the world’s largest producer of jujubes, and more than 50% of production takes place in Xinjiang. Jujube producers work with the Chinese government to make use of ethnic minority groups for exploitative labor, often receiving financial incentives. Academic researchers, media, and think tanks report that companies and government entities frequently engage in coercive recruitment, limit workers’ freedom of movement and communication, and subjected workers to constant surveillance, exclusion from community and social life, physical violence, and threats to family members.

Chinese Translation

There are reports that adults are forced to produce metallurgical-grade silicon in China. Research indicates that Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities are subjected to forced labor as a result of state-sponsored labor transfer programs. Metallurgical-grade silicon manufacturers in Xinjiang receive members of persecuted groups through government-sponsored labor transfer programs. Academic researchers, media, and think tanks report that companies and government entities frequently engage in coercive recruitment, limit workers’ freedom of movement and communication, and subjected workers to constant surveillance, exclusion from community and social life, physical violence, and threats to family members.

Chinese Translation

There is evidence that children between the ages of 5 and 14 work in the harvesting and production of grapes in Colombia.  Based on an analysis of the Colombia Great Household Survey – Child Labor Module, an estimated 31,834 children under the minimum age for work are involved in child labor in the harvesting and production of grapes.  The release of this survey demonstrates the Government of Colombia’s commitment to addressing child labor and its acknowledgment that data collection is vital to the design and implementation of sound policies and programs.

There is evidence that children between the ages of 5 and 14 work in the harvesting and production of pome and stone fruits in Colombia.  Based on an analysis of the Colombia Great Household Survey – Child Labor Module, an estimated 10,679 children under the minimum age for work are involved in child labor in pome and stone fruits.  The release of this survey demonstrates the Government of Colombia’s commitment to addressing child labor and its acknowledgment that data collection is vital to the design and implementation of sound policies and programs.

There are reports that children in Colombia as young as 11 years old are forced to cultivate and pick coca, and to scrape coca leaves. The Government, NGOs, media, and the ILO indicate that some children are forcibly recruited by non-state armed groups, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the National Liberation Army, and criminal groups to pick coca. Others are forced by drug traffickers. Criminal and illegal armed groups use threats of torture or death to prevent children from attempting to escape. 

Spanish Translation