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.

There are reports that children are involved in Zimbabwe’s lithium mining. Children work in artisanal and small-scale lithium mines in the provinces of Midlands, Manicaland, and Mashonaland East. It is estimated that hundreds of children are involved in lithium mining. Children who mine lithium often help their parents carry lithium ore or perform hazardous tasks including the use of hammers and chisels to break rock into a form to be sold to formal lithium companies.

There is evidence that children ages 5 to 17 grow lettuce in Paraguay. In 2016, the Government of Paraguay published representative results from the Survey of Activities of Rural Area Children and Adolescents 2015. The survey considers a working child to be engaged in child labor if the child is below the minimum age for employment of 14 or the child is performing work that is hazardous according to national legislation. The survey estimates that 301,827 children ages 5 to 17 perform hazardous work in rural areas of Paraguay and indicates that children working in agriculture experience accidents and illnesses, including from using dangerous tools and handling chemicals. According to the survey, almost 13 percent of Paraguayan children engaged in child labor in agriculture do not attend school. The survey estimates that 9,397 child laborers grow lettuce throughout rural areas in Paraguay. Approximately 5,915 child laborers growing lettuce are below the minimum age for employment in Paraguay. The release of this survey demonstrates the Government of Paraguay’s commitment to addressing child labor and its acknowledgement that data collection is vital to the design and implementation of sound policies and programs.

Spanish Translation

There is evidence that children between the ages of 5 and 14 work in the production of leather goods in Mexico.  Based on an analysis of Mexico’s National Survey of Occupation and Employment – Child Labor Module 2017, an estimated 5,594 children work in leather goods manufacturing.  The release of this survey demonstrates the Government of Mexico’s commitment to addressing child labor and its acknowledgment that data collection is vital to the design and implementation of sound policies and programs.

Spanish Translation

There are reports that children ages 5 to 17 in Vietnam produce leather. The results of the Government of Vietnam’s National Child Labor Survey 2012, published in 2014, show that an estimated 1,426 child laborers work in the leather industry, primarily in the tanning and pre-processing stages and in dyeing animal skins. Approximately 74 percent of children involved in child labor in leather production are girls. Out of the estimated 1,426 child laborers who produce leather, about 580 are 12-14 years old and 846 are 15-17 years old. The survey considers a child to be engaged in child labor if the child is working an excessive number of hours per week for his or her age, or if the child is engaged in work that is prohibited for underage employees according to national legislation. 

Vietnamese Translation