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ILAB,
OSEC
Notices
Request for Information on Efforts by Certain Countries To Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor
[ 12/5/2006]
[ PDF]
FR Doc E6-20561
[Federal Register: December 5, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 233)]
[Notices]
[Page 70542-70544]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05de06-73]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Request for Information on
Efforts by Certain Countries To Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child
Labor
AGENCY: The Bureau of International Labor Affairs, United States
Department of Labor.
ACTION: Request for information on efforts by certain countries to
eliminate the worst forms of child labor.
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SUMMARY: This notice is a request for information for use by the
Department of Labor in preparation of an annual report on certain trade
beneficiary countries' implementation of international commitments to
eliminate the worst forms of child labor. This will be the sixth such
report by the Department of Labor under the Trade and Development Act
of 2000 (TDA).
DATES: Submitters of information are requested to provide two (2)
copies of their written submission to the Office of Child Labor, Forced
Labor and Human Trafficking at the address below by 5 p.m., December
22, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Written submissions should be addressed to Tina McCarter at
the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking, Bureau
of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Avenue, NW., Room S-5307, Washington, DC 20210.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tina McCarter, Bureau of International
Labor Affairs, Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human
Trafficking, at (202) 693-4846, fax: (202) 693-4830, or e-mail:
mccarter-tina@dol.gov. The Department of Labor's international child
labor reports can be found on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/media/reports/iclp/main.htm
or can be obtained from the Office of Child
Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Trade and Development Act of 2000 [Pub.
L. 106-200] established a new eligibility criterion for receipt of
trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP),
Caribbean Basin Trade and Partnership Act (CBTPA), and Africa Growth
and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The TDA amends the GSP reporting
requirements of the Trade Act of 1974 (Section 504) [19 U.S.C. 2464] to
require that the President's annual report on the status of
internationally recognized worker rights include ``findings by the
Secretary of Labor with respect to the beneficiary country's
implementation of its international commitments to eliminate the worst
forms of child labor.''
Likewise, Title II of the TDA includes as a criterion for receiving
benefits under the CBTPA ``whether the country has implemented its
commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, as defined in
section 507(6) of the Trade Act of 1974.'' The TDA Conference Report
[Joint Explanatory Statement of the Committee of Conference, 106th
Cong. 2d. sess. (2000)] indicates that ``the conferees intend that the
GSP standard, including the provision with respect to implementation of
obligations to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, apply to
eligibility for those additional benefits'' [provided for in the AGOA.]
In addition, the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) as amended and
expanded by the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act
[[Page 70543]]
(ATPDEA) (Pub. L. 107-210, Title XXXI) includes as a criterion for
receiving benefits ``[w]hether the country has implemented its
commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor as defined in
section 507(6) of the Trade Act of 1974.''
Scope of Report
Countries and non-independent countries and territories presently
eligible under the GSP and to be included in the report are:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Argentina, Armenia,
Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Botswana, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin
Islands, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape
Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Christmas Islands, Cocos
Islands, Colombia, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic
of Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Djibouti,
Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Fiji, Gabon, the Gambia, Georgia,
Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Heard
Island and MacDonald Islands, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan,
Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia,
Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Moldova,
Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Niger,
Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Island, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New
Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn Island, Romania, Russia,
Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent
and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tom[eacute] and Principe, Senegal,
Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South
Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo,
Tokelau Island, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and
Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu,
Venezuela, Wallis and Futuna, West Bank and Gaza Strip, Western Sahara,
Republic of Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Countries eligible or potentially eligible for additional benefits
under the AGOA and to be included in the report are: Angola, Benin,
Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Republic of Congo,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, the
Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger,
Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra
Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
Countries potentially eligible for additional benefits under the
CBTPA and to be included in the report are: Barbados, Belize, Costa
Rica, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Saint Lucia,
and Trinidad and Tobago.
Countries potentially eligible for additional benefits under the
ATPA/ATPDEA and to be included in the report are: Bolivia, Colombia,
Ecuador, and Peru.
In addition, the following countries will be included in the report
in view of Department of Labor Appropriations, 2006, Conference Report,
H.R. Rep. 109-337 (2005): Bahrain, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua, and Morocco.
Information Sought
The Department invites interested parties to submit written
information relevant to the findings to be made by the Department of
Labor under the TDA, for all listed countries. Information provided
through public submission will be considered by the Department of Labor
in preparing its findings. Materials submitted should be confined to
the specific topic of the study. In particular, the Department's Bureau
of International Labor Affairs is seeking written submissions on the
following topics:
1. Whether the country has adequate laws and regulations
proscribing the worst forms of child labor;
2. Whether the country has adequate laws and regulations for the
implementation and enforcement of such laws and regulations;
3. Whether the country has established formal institutional
mechanisms to investigate and address complaints relating to
allegations of the worst forms of child labor;
4. Whether social programs exist in the country to prevent the
engagement of children in the worst forms of child labor, and to assist
in the removal of children engaged in the worst forms of child labor;
5. Whether the country has a comprehensive policy for the
elimination of the worst forms of child labor;
6. Whether the country is making continual progress toward
eliminating the worst forms of child labor.
Information relating to the nature and extent of child labor in the
country is also sought. Information submitted may include reports,
statistics, newspaper articles, or other materials. Governments that
have ratified ILO Convention 182 are requested to submit copies of
their most recent article 22 submissions under the Convention,
especially those with information on types of work determined in
accordance with Article 3(d) of the Convention.
Definition of Worst Forms of Child Labor
The term ``worst forms of child labor'' is defined in section
412(b) of the TDA as comprising:
``(A) All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as
the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and
forced or compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory recruitment
of children for use in armed conflict;
(B) The use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for
the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;
(C) The use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit
activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs
as defined in relevant international treaties; and
(D) Work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is
carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of
children.''
The TDA Conference Report noted that the phrase, ``work which, by
its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely
to harm the health, safety or morals of children'' is to be defined as
in Article II of Recommendation No. 190, which accompanies ILO
Convention No. 182. This includes
``(a) Work which exposes children to physical, psychological, or
sexual abuse;
(b) Work underground, under water, at dangerous heights or in
confined spaces;
(c) Work with dangerous machinery, equipment and tools, or which
involves the manual handling or transport of heavy loads;
(d) Work in an unhealthy environment which may, for example, expose
children to hazardous substances, agents or processes, or to
temperatures, noise levels, or vibrations damaging to their health;
(e) Work under particularly difficult conditions such as work for
long hours or during the night or work where the child is unreasonably
confined to the premises of the employer.''
The TDA Conference Report further indicated that this phrase be
interpreted in a manner consistent with the intent of Article 4 of ILO
Convention No. 182, which states that such work shall be determined by
national laws or
[[Page 70544]]
regulations or by the competent authority in the country involved.
This notice is a general solicitation of comments from the public.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 29th day of November, 2006.
James Carter,
Deputy Undersecretary, Bureau of International Labor Affairs.
[FR Doc. E6-20561 Filed 12-4-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-28-P
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