[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 162 (Wednesday, August 21, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54232-54233]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-21331]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of International Labor Affairs


Request for Information on Forced/Indentured Child Labor Pursuant 
to Executive Order 13126; Firecracker Industry in China

AGENCY: Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Labor.

ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: This notice is a request for information to assist the 
Department of Labor in the examination of whether forced child labor 
exists in the firecracker industry in China. This review is being 
conducted pursuant to Executive Order 13126 (``Prohibition of 
Acquisition of Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor'') and the 
``Procedural Guidelines for Maintenance of the List of Products 
Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured 
Child Labor'' in the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
    The Department anticipates that written information regarding 
forced child labor in the firecracker industry in China will aid it in 
determining, in consultation with the Departments of State and 
Treasury, whether this product, and its originating country, should be 
added to the Executive Order list.

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 September 20, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Written submissions should be addressed to Christine 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: Christine Camillo, International Child 
Labor Program, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, at (693-4839; fax 
(202) 693-4830.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Executive Order No. 13126, which was published in the Federal 
Register on June 16, 1999 (64 FR 32383-32385), declared that it was 
``the policy of the United States Government * * * that the executive 
agencies shall take appropriate actions to enforce the laws prohibiting 
the manufacture or importation of good, wares articles, and merchandise 
mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part by forced or 
indentured child labor''. Pursuant to the Executive Order, and 
following public notice and comment, the Department of Labor published 
in the January 18, 2001 Federal Register, a final list of products, 
identified by their country of origin, that the Department, in 
consultation and cooperation with the Departments of State and 
Treasury, has a reasonable basis to believe might have been mined, 
produced or manufactured with forced or indentured child labor. In 
addition to this list, the Department also published on January 18, 
2001, a notice of procedural guidelines for maintaining, reviewing, 
and, as appropriate, revising the list of products required by 
Executive Order 13126 [48 CFR subpart 22.15]. The List of Products 
Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured 
Child Labor can be accessed on the Internet at www.dol.gov/ilab or can 
be obtained from: International Child Labor Program (ICLP), Bureau of 
International Labor Affairs, Room S-5307, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-
4843; fax (202) 693-4830. A copy of the Procedural Guidelines is also 
available from the International Child Labor Program office.
    Pursuant to Section 3 of the Executive Order, the Federal 
Acquisition Regulatory Councils published a final rule in the Federal 
Register on January 18, 2001, pursuant to that federal contractors who 
supply products which appear on the list issued by the Department of 
Labor must certify to the contracting officer that the contractor, or, 
in the case of an incorporated contractor, a responsible official of 
the contractor, has made a good faith effort to determine whether 
forced or indentured child labor was used to mine, produce or 
manufacture any product furnished under the contract and that, on the 
basis of those efforts, the contractor is unaware of any such use of 
child labor. The regulation also imposes other requirements with 
respect to contracts for products on the Department of Labor's List.

II. China/Firecrackers Executive Order Submission

    On June 29, 2001, the Department of Labor accepted for review a 
submission under Executive Order 13126 regarding the use of forced 
child labor in the firecracker industry in China. The submission, which 
was provided by State Department Watch, included information describing 
a March 2001 incident in which children in Jiangxi Province, China were 
allegedly killed while being forced to manufacture firecrackers at 
their school.

[[Page 54233]]

III. Definition of Forced/Indentured Child Labor

    Under Section 6c of Executive Order 13126--
    Forced or indentured child labor means all work or service--
    (1) Exacted from any person under the age of 18 under the menace of 
any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not 
offer himself voluntarily; or
    (2) Performed by any person under the age of 18 pursuant to a 
contract the enforcement of which can be accomplished by process or 
penalties.

IV. Information Sought

    The Department is requesting information about the specific child 
labor incident described above or any other similar incidents where 
children have been forced to manufacture fireworks in China as well as 
efforts made by the Government of China to address this problem.
    This notice is a general solicitation of comments from the public. 
All submitted comments will be made a part of the record of the review 
referred to above and will be available for public inspection.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 15th day of August, 2002.
Thomas B. Moorhead,
Deputy Under Secretary for International Labor Affairs.
[FR Doc. 02-21331 Filed 8-20-02; 8:45 am]
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