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 Goods (Full Report) (PDF)
- 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 | Good Sort descending | Exploitation Type |
---|---|---|
China | There are reports that adults are forced to produce caustic soda in China. Caustic soda has a wide variety of uses in industrial processes, including as an input to cleaning products and refining in mining activities. Research indicates that Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are frequently subjected to forced labor as a result of state-sponsored labor transfer programs. Workers, often from poor rural areas, have been placed in factories in industrial areas within the XUAR, and have also been transferred to factories in other parts of China. China is the world’s largest producer of caustic soda, and approximately 16% of China’s production is based in Xinjiang. Caustic soda manufacturers 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, religious retribution, exclusion from community and social life, physical violence, and threats to family members. |
Forced Labor |
Korea, North | Forced Labor | |
Brazil | Child Labor | |
El Salvador | There is evidence that children ages 5 to 17 are engaged in the production of cereal grains in El Salvador. According to the Government of El Salvador’s Multi-Purpose Household Survey of 2015, a working child is considered to be engaged in hazardous child labor if the child is performing work that is hazardous according to national legislation. The survey estimates that 123,259 children ages 5 to 17 perform hazardous child labor in El Salvador, including using dangerous tools, carrying heavy loads, working with chemicals, working long or night shifts, and being exposed to dust, smoke, or extreme heat or humidity. Approximately 40,675 of these children in hazardous child labor are engaged in the production of cereal grains. The release of this survey demonstrates the Government of El Salvador’s commitment to addressing child labor and its acknowledgement that data collection is vital to the design and implementation of sound policies and programs. |
Child Labor |
Brazil | Child Labor, Forced Labor | |
Uganda | Child Labor | |
Mexico | There are reports that men and women are forced to work in the production of chile peppers in Mexico. According to media reports, NGOs, and the U.S. Department of State, there are hundreds of forced labor victims working to produce chile peppers. Many of these victims report being recruited by middlemen, called enganchadores, that lie to workers about the nature and conditions of the work, wages, hours, and quality of living conditions. Sources report that cases of forced labor in chile peppers production predominantly occurs in small and medium holder farms and have been found in states such as Baja California, Chihuahua, Jalisco, and San Luis Potosi. According to available reports, indigenous farmworkers from impoverished regions of central and southern Mexico are particularly vulnerable to forced labor in the agricultural sector due to low education levels, linguistic barriers, and discrimination. Once on the farms, some men and women work up to 15 hours per day under the threat of dismissal and receive subminimum wage payments or no payment at all. There are reports of some workers being threatened with physical violence or physically abused for leaving their jobs. Workers also report finding themselves in overcrowded and unsanitary housing facilities with no access to potable water, latrines, electricity, and medical care. Some workers face growing indebtedness to company stores that often inflate the prices of their goods, forcing workers to purchase provisions on credit and limiting their ability to leave the farms. |
Child Labor, Forced Labor |
Côte d'Ivoire | ILAB has reason to believe that multiple cocoa and chocolate products made in Côte d’Ivoire are produced with an input made with child labor, specifically from cocoa beans produced in Côte d’Ivoire. These products include cocoa paste, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate. Cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire produced with child labor, forced labor, and forced child labor was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2009. Based on the most recently available estimate from NORC at the University of Chicago, the prevalence rate of child labor in cocoa production among cocoa growing households is 41%, meaning about 790,000 children work in child labor in cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire. These cocoa-growing households produce the vast majority Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa beans. Thus, products that rely heavily on cocoa beans originating from Côte d’Ivoire are at high risk of having an input produced with child labor. In 2022, the Netherlands imported 39% of its cocoa beans, 62% of its cocoa paste, 33% of its cocoa butter, and 31% of its cocoa powder from Côte d’Ivoire, using these inputs to produce cocoa and chocolate products. The availability of continued research demonstrates the Government of Côte d’Ivoire’s commitment to addressing labor abuses in the cocoa industry. Nonetheless, the use of child labor in Côte d’Ivoire’s production of cocoa beans remains a significant challenge. |
Inputs Produced with Child Labor |
Ghana | ILAB has reason to believe that multiple cocoa and chocolate products made in Ghana are produced with an input made with child labor, specifically from cocoa beans produced in Ghana. These products include cocoa paste, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate. Cocoa from Ghana produced with child labor was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2009. Based on the most recently available estimate from NORC at the University of Chicago, the prevalence rate of child labor in cocoa production among cocoa growing households is 55%, meaning an estimated 765,754 children work in child labor in cocoa production in Ghana. These cocoa growing households produce the vast majority of Ghana’s cocoa beans. Thus, products that rely heavily on cocoa beans originating from Ghana are at risk of having an input produced with child labor. The availability of this research demonstrates the Government of Ghana’s commitment to addressing labor abuses in the cocoa industry. Nonetheless, the use of child labor in Ghana’s production of cocoa beans remains a significant challenge. |
Inputs Produced with Child Labor |
Netherlands | ILAB has reason to believe that multiple cocoa and chocolate products produced in the Netherlands are produced with an input produced with child labor, specifically from cocoa beans produced in Ghana and Côte |
Inputs Produced with Child Labor |
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