Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Request for Information
Concerning Labor Rights in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and
Swaziland and Their Laws Governing Exploitative Child Labor
[06/23/2004]
Volume 69, Number 120, Page 35064-35065
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of the Secretary
Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Request for Information
Concerning Labor Rights in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and
Swaziland and Their Laws Governing Exploitative Child Labor
AGENCIES: Office of the Secretary, Labor; Office of the United States
Trade Representative and Department of State.
ACTION: Request for comments from the public.
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SUMMARY: This notice is a request for comments from the public to
assist the Secretary of Labor, the United States Trade Representative,
and the Secretary of State in preparing reports regarding labor rights
in the five member countries of the Southern African Customs Union
(Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland) and describing
the extent to which they have in effect laws governing exploitative
child labor. The Trade Act of 2002 requires reports on these issues and
others when the President intends to use trade promotion authority
procedures in connection with legislation approving and implementing a
trade agreement. The President assigned the functions of preparing
reports regarding labor rights and the existence of laws governing
exploitative child labor to the Secretary of Labor, in consultation
with the Secretary of State and the United States Trade Representative.
The Secretary of Labor further assigned these functions to the
Secretary of State and the United States Trade Representative, to be
carried out by the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of State and the
United States Trade Representative.
DATES: Public comments should be received no later than 5 p.m. August
9, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Persons submitting comments are strongly advised to make
such submissions by electronic mail to the following address:
FRFTASACU@dol.gov. Submissions by facsimile may be sent to: Betsy
White, Office of International Economic Affairs, Bureau of
International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, at (202) 693-
4851.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions regarding the
submissions, please contact Betsy White, Office of International
Economic Affairs, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S.
Department of Labor, at (202) 693-4919, facsimile (202) 693-4851. These
are not toll-free numbers. Substantive questions concerning the labor
rights report and/or the report on Southern Africa's laws governing
exploitative child labor should be addressed to Jorge Perez-Lopez,
Office of International Economic Affairs, Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20210, telephone (202) 693-4883, facsimile (202) 693-
4851.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On November 4, 2002, in accordance with section 2104(a)(1) of the
Trade Act of 2002, the United States Trade Representative (USTR)
notified the Congress of the President's intent to enter into free
trade negotiations with the Southern African Customs Union. The
notification letters to the Congress can be found on the USTR Web site
at http://www.ustr.gov/releases/2002/11/2002-11-04-SACU-byrd.PDF and
http://www.ustr.gov/releases/2002/11/2002-11-04-SACU-hastert.PDF,
respectively. At a public hearing conducted on December 16, 2002, the
interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) received written
comments and oral testimony from the public to assist USTR in
formulating positions and proposals with respect to all aspects of the
negotiations (67 FR 69295) (Nov. 15, 2002). Negotiations were launched
in June 2003.
The Trade Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-210) (the Trade Act) sets forth
special procedures (Trade Promotion Authority) for approval and
implementation of Agreements subject to meeting conditions and
requirements in Division B of the Trade Act, ``Bipartisan Trade
Promotion Authority.'' Section 2102(a)-(c) of the Trade Act includes
negotiating objectives and a listing of priorities for the President to
promote in order to ``address and maintain United States
competitiveness in the global economy'' in pursuing future trade
agreements. The President assigned several of the functions in section
2102(c) to the Secretary of Labor. (E.O. 13277). These include the
functions set forth in section 2102(c)(8), which requires that the
President ``in connection with any trade negotiations entered into
under this Act, submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a
meaningful labor rights report of the country, or countries, with
respect to which the President is negotiating,'' and the function in
section 2102(c)(9), which requires that the President ``with respect to
any trade agreement which the President seeks to
[[Page 35065]]
implement under trade authorities procedures, submit to the Congress a
report describing the extent to which the country or countries that are
parties to the agreement have in effect laws governing exploitative
child labor.''
II. Information Sought
Interested parties are invited to submit written information as
specified below to be taken into account in drafting the required
reports. Materials submitted should be confined to the specific topics
of the reports. In particular, agencies are seeking written submissions
on the following topics:
1. Labor laws, including laws governing exploitative child labor,
of the five Southern African countries that are participating in the
negotiations and each country's implementation and enforcement of its
labor laws and regulations;
2. The situation in these five countries of Southern Africa with
respect to core labor standards;
3. Steps taken by the five countries to comply with International
Labor Organization Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child
labor; and
4. The nature and extent, if any, of exploitative child labor in
each of these five countries of Southern Africa.
Section 2113(6) of the Trade Act defines ``core labor standards''
as:
(A) The right of association;
(B) The right to organize and bargain collectively;
(C) A prohibition on the use of any form of forced or compulsory
labor;
(D) A minimum age for the employment of children; and
(E) Acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages,
hours of work, and occupational safety and health.
III. Requirements for Submissions
This document is a request for facts or opinions submitted in
response to a general solicitation of comments from the public. To
ensure prompt and full consideration of submissions, we strongly
recommend that interested persons submit comments by electronic mail to
the following e-mail address: FRFTASACU@dol.gov. Persons making
submissions by e-mail should use the following subject line: ``Southern
Africa: Labor Rights and Child Labor Reports.'' Documents should be
submitted in WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) format. Supporting
documentation submitted as spreadsheets is acceptable in Quattro Pro or
Excel format. Persons who make submissions by e-mail should not provide
separate cover letters; information that might appear in a cover letter
should be included in the submission itself. Similarly, to the extent
possible, any attachments to the submission should be included in the
same file as the submission itself, and not as separate files. Written
comments will be placed in a file open to public inspection at the
Department of Labor, Room S-5317, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20210, and in the USTR Reading Room in Room 3 of the
annex of the Office of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC
20508. An appointment to review the file at the Department of Labor may
be made by contacting Betsy White at (202) 693-4919. An appointment to
review the file at USTR may be made by calling (202) 395-6186. The USTR
Reading Room is generally open to the public from 10 a.m.-12 noon and
1-4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Appointments must be scheduled at
least 48 hours in advance.
Signed in Washington, DC, this 16th of June, 2004.
Martha Newton,
Associate Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 04-14167 Filed 6-22-04; 8:45 am]
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