| Media Note Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC January 19, 2007 Trafficking in Persons: Interim AssessmentsToday, the State Department released the Interim Assessment of 39 countries on the "Special Watch List" for the current year. The "Special Watch List" consists of countries deemed to warrant special scrutiny of their anti-trafficking efforts, as required by the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2003. The "Special Watch List" includes countries that have a very significant human trafficking problem, have not shown increased efforts over the last year, or were upgraded in the most recent annual report. Some countries on the "Special Watch List" could be downgraded to Tier 3 in the upcoming June 2007 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report if their anti-trafficking efforts this year are determined to be inadequate. The Interim Assessment looks at the efforts of these foreign governments to combat human trafficking and provides guidance on how to avoid a Tier 3 ranking. The Interim Assessment is posted on the State Department's Web site: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/rpt/78948.htm. The 2007 Interim Assessment covers: Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Bahrain, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Central African Republic, China (PRC), Cyprus, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait, Laos, Libya, Macau, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mexico, Oman, Peru, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Togo, and the United Arab Emirates. Seven countries are included because they moved up one tier in 2006. Belize and Laos moved from the Tier 3 to the Tier 2 Watch List in September as the result of a Presidential Determination. Ecuador moved up from Tier 3 in the 2005 TIP Report to Tier 2 in the 2006 TIP Report. Finland, Malawi, Singapore, and Switzerland moved up from Tier 2 to Tier 1 in the same period. The remaining 32 countries were placed in the Tier 2 Watch List in the 2006 TIP Report. 2007/042
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