[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]

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