List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor

There are reports that men and women working in the production of tea are subjected to forced and bonded labor in India. Evidence of forced and bonded labor has been found in the Assam state. Workers experience non-payment and under payment of wages and withholding of benefits, as well as threats of the same. In addition, sources indicate that workers are not provided access to adequate housing, basic healthcare, and water. While employers are legally required to provide food and medical care, workers are not provided with these services and must borrow money from their employer at high interest rates; workers are also sometimes charged for services they do not receive. This has led to conditions of debt bondage. A smaller number of workers are subjected to forced labor through physical and sexual violence, verbal abuse, and threats of violence and dismissal.

There are reports that children ages 6 to 17 produce sandstone in India.  In Rajasthan, which produces 90 percent of India’s sandstone, boys and girls as young as age 6 or 7 work chiseling sandstone cobblestones, and boys ages 13 to 17 quarry sandstone.  Children from migrant families or children belonging to scheduled castes, a socially disadvantaged group in India, are particularly vulnerable to child labor in producing sandstone.  Based on estimates from international organizations, NGOs, and academic researchers, thousands of children work in Rajasthan’s sandstone quarries.  Children working in the quarries are rarely given protective equipment such as goggles or masks, and are exposed to hazards including severe injury from stone chips; hearing loss from drilling and blasting noise; extreme heat; and inhalation of silica dust, which can lead to chronic lung disease and death.  Some children also work at night or operate dangerous equipment.

There are reports that adult workers are forced to work in the production of sandstone in India.  Migrant workers and individuals from scheduled castes, a socially disadvantaged group in India, are especially vulnerable to forced labor in sandstone quarries.  According to international organizations, NGOs, and academic researchers, incidents of forced labor and debt bondage are widespread in sandstone quarries in Rajasthan, which is the source of 90 percent of India’s sandstone.  Migrant and marginalized workers are lured to the quarries with the promise of well-paying jobs, only to work in dangerous conditions for pay at a daily or per piece rate that is too low to manage basic expenses.  Sandstone quarry workers are highly vulnerable to silicosis, a fatal lung disease caused by breathing the dust produced by drilling or breaking quartz-rich rocks.  In many cases, quarry owners give workers advances and loans to pay for growing household and medical expenses related to silicosis.  Quarry owners withhold workers’ wages as repayment for this debt, which in turn continuously accumulates due to compound interest and additional expenses.  Employers record attendance informally and rarely issue written accounts of debt owed, enabling quarry owners to deduct money from the workers’ wages and inflate debts.  When an indebted worker grows too ill to work or dies, this debt is transferred to his or her family, who must forfeit property or themselves labor in the quarry to pay off the debt.

Hindi Translation

ILAB has reason to believe that multiple palm oil products produced in Indonesia are made with an input using child labor and forced labor, specifically palm fruit harvested in Indonesia. These palm oil products include crude palm oil, crude palm kernel oil, refined palm oil, refined palm kernel oil, and oleochemicals.

Palm Fruit from Indonesia was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2010 for child labor and added in 2020 for forced labor. Indonesia produces most of the world’s palm fruit and palm oil. In 2020, refined palm oil from Indonesia accounted for 55.26 percent of global imports. In 2020, the U.S. obtained about 60 percent of its $1 billion in refined palm oil imports from Indonesia.

This research suggests that further downstream products of palm fruit and palm oil, such as cooking oils, animal feed, bakery items and baked goods, beverages, household and industrial products, personal care and cosmetic products, infant formula, and biofuels, may be produced with an input produced with child labor and forced labor.

ILAB has reason to believe that multiple palm oil products produced in Indonesia are made with an input using child labor and forced labor, specifically palm fruit harvested in Indonesia. These palm oil products include crude palm oil, crude palm kernel oil, refined palm oil, refined palm kernel oil, and oleochemicals.

Palm Fruit from Indonesia was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2010 for child labor and added in 2020 for forced labor. Indonesia produces most of the world’s palm fruit and palm oil. In 2020, refined palm oil from Indonesia accounted for 55.26 percent of global imports. In 2020, the U.S. obtained about 60 percent of its $1 billion in refined palm oil imports from Indonesia.

This research suggests that further downstream products of palm fruit and palm oil, such as cooking oils, animal feed, bakery items and baked goods, beverages, household and industrial products, personal care and cosmetic products, infant formula, and biofuels, may be produced with an input produced with child labor and forced labor.

ILAB has reason to believe that multiple palm oil products produced in Indonesia are made with an input using child labor and forced labor, specifically palm fruit harvested in Indonesia. These palm oil products include crude palm oil, crude palm kernel oil, refined palm oil, refined palm kernel oil, and oleochemicals.

Palm Fruit from Indonesia was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2010 for child labor and added in 2020 for forced labor. Indonesia produces most of the world’s palm fruit and palm oil. In 2020, refined palm oil from Indonesia accounted for 55.26 percent of global imports. In 2020, the U.S. obtained about 60 percent of its $1 billion in refined palm oil imports from Indonesia.

This research suggests that further downstream products of palm fruit and palm oil, such as cooking oils, animal feed, bakery items and baked goods, beverages, household and industrial products, personal care and cosmetic products, infant formula, and biofuels, may be produced with an input produced with child labor and forced labor.