[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 186 (Tuesday, September 25, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49070-49071]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-23878]



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Part II





Department of Labor





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Bureau of International Labor Affairs



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Request for Information on Efforts by Certain Countries To Eliminate 
the Worst Forms of Child Labor; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 186 / Tuesday, September 25, 2001 / 
Notices  

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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, 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 in Department 
of Labor research regarding the implementation of international 
commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor by countries 
seeking benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), 
and/or eligibility for additional benefits provided for in the 
Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) or the African Growth and 
Development Act (AGOA). The recently passed Trade and Development Act 
of 2000 (TDA) establishes a new eligibility criterion, concerning 
efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, for receipt of 
these trade benefits. The TDA requires the Secretary of Labor to make 
findings with respect to beneficiary countries' implementation of their 
international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

DATES: Submitters of information are requested to provide two (2) 
copies of their written submission to the International Child Labor 
Program at the address below by 5 p.m., October 25, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Written submissions should be addressed to Chris Camillo at 
the International Child Labor Program, Bureau of International Labor 
Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 
S-5307, Washington, DC 20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Camillo, International Child 
Labor Program, Bureau of International Labor Affairs at (202) 693-4839; 
fax (202) 693-4830. The Department of Labor's reports on international 
child labor can be accessed on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/dol/ilab/public/programs/iclp/ or can be obtained from the International 
Child Labor Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Trade and Development Act of 2000 (Pub. 
L. 106-200), signed into law on May 18, 2000, establishes a new 
eligibility criterion concerning efforts to eliminate the worst forms 
of child labor for receipt of trade benefits under the GSP, CBTPA, and 
AGOA programs. The TDA amends the GSP reporting requirements of the 
Trade Act of 1974 (Section 504) (19 U.S.C. 2464) to require that the 
annual report 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.''
    Title II of the TDA includes as a criteria 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.)

Scope of Report

    Countries presently eligible under the GSP are: Albania, Angola, 
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, 
Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, 
Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape 
Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Congo 
(Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, 
Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, 
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, 
Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, the Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, 
Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, 
Hungary, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, 
Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lithuania, Macedonia 
(former Yugoslav Republic of), Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, 
Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, 
Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, 
Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts-Nevis, 
Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome & 
Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, 
Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, 
Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Tuvalu, 
Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Republic of Yemen, 
Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
    Countries potentially eligible for additional benefits under the 
AGOA are: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, 
Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic 
Republic of Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, 
Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, 
Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, 
Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao 
Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South 
Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
    Countries potentially eligible for additional benefits under the 
CBTPA are: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, 
Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, 
Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint 
Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, 
Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Saint Kitts-Nevis, 
Turks and Caicos and the British Virgin Islands.

Information Sought

    The Department invites written information relevant to the findings 
to be made by the Department of Labor under the TDA from all interested 
parties. 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 as 
stipulated in the TDA Conference Report:
    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 measures;
    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 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;

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    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.

Definition of ``Worst Forms of Child Labor''

    As stated in the TDA Conference Report, use of the term ``Worst 
Forms of Child Labor'' in the TDA follows International Labor 
Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182, which defines child as all 
persons under the age of 18, and the worst forms of child labor as 
comprising 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; the use, procuring or offering 
of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for 
pornographic performances; 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; or 
any 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 work that exposes children to 
physical, psychological, or sexual abuse; work underground, under 
water, at dangerous heights or in confined spaces; work with dangerous 
machinery, equipment or tools, or work under circumstances which 
involve the manual handling or transport of heavy loads; work in an 
unhealthy environment that exposes children to hazardous substances, 
agents or processes, or to temperatures, noise levels, or vibrations 
damaging to their health; and work under particularly difficult 
conditions such as for long hours, during the night or under conditions 
where children are unreasonably confined to the premises of the 
employer.
    The TDA Conference Report further indicated 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 * * * 
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 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 19th day of September, 2001.
Jorge Perez-Lopez,
Associate Deputy Under Secretary for International Labor Affairs.
[FR Doc. 01-23878 Filed 9-24-01; 8:45 am]
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