List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor
The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) maintains a list of goods and their source countries which it has reason to believe are produced by child labor or forced labor in violation of international standards, as required under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2005 and subsequent reauthorizations. The List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor comprises 204 goods from 82 countries and areas, as of September 5, 2024.
The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2018 directs that the List include, "to the extent practicable, goods that are produced with inputs that are produced with forced labor or child labor."
ILAB maintains the List primarily to raise public awareness about forced labor and child labor around the world and to promote efforts to combat them; it is not intended to be punitive, but rather to serve as a catalyst for more strategic and focused coordination and collaboration among those working to address these problems.
Previous TVPRA List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor
2022
- List of Downstream Goods (Excel)
- List of Goods (Bibliography) (PDF)
Publication of the List has resulted in new opportunities for ILAB to engage with foreign governments to combat forced labor and child labor. It is also a valuable resource for researchers, advocacy organizations and companies wishing to carry out risk assessments and engage in due diligence on labor rights in their supply chains.
The countries on the List span every region of the world. The most common agricultural goods listed are sugarcane, cotton, coffee, tobacco, cattle, rice, and fish. In the manufacturing sector, bricks, garments, textiles, footwear, carpets, and fireworks appear most frequently. In mined or quarried goods, gold, coal and diamonds are most common.
ILAB published the initial TVPRA List in 2009 and updated it annually through 2014, following a set of procedural guidelines that were the product of an intensive public consultation process. ILAB now updates and publishes the List every other year, pursuant to changes in the law.
Procedural Guidelines
On January 25, 2024, ILAB's Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking published Procedural Guidelines for the development and maintenance of the List of Goods from countries produced by child labor or forced labor in violation of international standards.
DOL's mission is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States. This DOL mission is carried out by a variety of sub-agencies and offices (DOL agencies) covering domestic and international policy engagements, workforce development, enforcement, statistics, and benefits. DOL has a responsibility to protect the integrity of scientific information that is produced, communicated, and used across DOL agencies to better carry out its mission. ILAB is committed to using the highest possible scientific integrity and quality standards and practices to conduct our critical work. Scientific integrity is the adherence to professional practices, ethical behavior, and the principles of honesty and objectivity when conducting, managing, using the results of, and communicating about science and scientific activities. Inclusivity, transparency, and protection from inappropriate influence are hallmarks of scientific integrity.
| Country/Area Sort descending | Good | Exploitation Type |
|---|---|---|
| India | Child Labor | |
| India | Child Labor | |
| India | Child Labor | |
| India | Child Labor | |
| India | There are reports that children, most between the ages of 8-17, are forced to produce garments in India. Based on the most recently available data from NGOs, up to 100,000 children throughout the country are being forced to produce garments. Recent reports suggest that forced child labor has shifted from factories to home-based production and from urban to suburban areas, particularly in southern India. Dalit and scheduled caste children, a socially disadvantaged class in India, are particularly vulnerable to forced labor in this industry. Many children are trafficked into garment production, recruited under deceptive terms, moved between employers without consent, and paid little or nothing for their work. Some children, as young as age five, are recruited for work through an advance payment to their parents, creating a situation of debt bondage which the child must work to repay. The children are isolated, often live at the worksite, and face restricted freedom of movement. Some children are exposed to dye and toxic chemicals without protective equipment; and some are forced to work overtime, even when they are sick. Some children are punished and threatened with verbal and physical abuse, financial penalty, and some are routinely deprived of food, water, and sleep. The children are forced to perform tasks including stitching, dyeing, cutting, sewing buttons, and embellishing garments. |
Child Labor, Forced Labor |
| India | Child Labor | |
| India | Child Labor | |
| India | There are reports of children working under conditions of forced labor to produce bricks in India's kilns. The most recently available information from a trade union report indicates that in the State of Haryana alone, as many as 40,000 children, many of them forced laborers, are working in brick kilns. Bonded labor in the brick industry is found across India, including in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. The kilns use a system of bonded labor in which children often work alongside other members of their debt-bonded families. Some of these children are forced to work as a guarantee for loans to their parents. Families take an advance payment from recruiters and then are forced to work to pay off the debt; the debt rolls over from one year to the next, binding the worker in a cycle of debt bondage. Children in scheduled castes, a socially disadvantaged class in India, and of migrant families, are particularly vulnerable to forced labor. Some children are forced to work under threat of physical violence. Some children and their families are not paid regularly, do not receive the promised wages, and are prohibited from leaving the worksite. |
Child Labor, Forced Labor |
| India | Child Labor, Forced Labor | |
| India | Child Labor |
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