[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 28, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4239-4240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-1851]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Request for Information 
Concerning Labor Rights in Singapore and Its Laws Governing 
Exploitative Child Labor

AGENCIES: Office of the Secretary, Labor; Office of the United States 
Trade Representative and Department of State.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice is a request for public comments to assist the 
Secretary of Labor, the United States Trade Representative and the 
Secretary of State in preparing reports regarding labor rights in 
Singapore and describing the extent to which Singapore has in effect 
laws governing exploitative child labor. The Trade Act of 2002 requires 
reports on these issues and others when the President intends to use 
trade promotion authority procedures in connection with legislation 
approving and implementing a trade agreement. Negotiators for the 
United States and Singapore announced that they approved the elements 
of such an agreement on November 19, 2002. The President assigned the 
functions of preparing reports regarding labor rights and the existence 
of laws governing exploitative child labor to the Secretary of Labor, 
in consultation with the Secretary of State and the United States Trade 
Representative. The Secretary of Labor further assigned these functions 
to the Secretary of State and United States Trade Representative.

[[Page 4240]]


DATES: Public comments should be received no later than 5 p.m. February 
27, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Persons submitting comments are strongly advised to make 
such submissions by electronic mail to the following address: 
[email protected]. Submissions by facsimile may be sent to: Betsy 
White at the Office of International Economic Affairs, Bureau of 
International Labor Affairs (202) 693-4851.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions regarding the 
submissions please contact Betsy White, Bureau of International Labor 
Affairs, Office of International Economic Affairs, at (202) 693-4919, 
facsimile (202) 693-4851. This is not a toll-free number. Substantive 
questions concerning the labor rights report and/or the report on 
Singapore's laws governing exploitative child labor should be addressed 
to Jorge Perez-Lopez, Office of International Economic Affairs, Bureau 
of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, telephone (202) 693-
4883.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Trade Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-210) (``the Trade Act'') sets 
forth special procedures (Trade Promotion Authority) for approval and 
implementation of Agreements subject to meeting conditions and 
requirements in the Act. Division B of the Trade Act, entitled the 
Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002, includes negotiating 
objectives and a listing of priorities for the President to promote in 
order to ``address and maintain United States competitiveness in the 
global economy'' in pursuing future trade agreements. 19 U.S.C. 
3802(a)-(c). The President delegated several of the functions in 
section 3802(c) to the Secretary of Labor. (E.O. 13277). These include 
the functions set forth in section 2102(c)(8), which requires that the 
President ``in connection with any trade negotiations entered into 
under this Act, submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a 
meaningful labor rights report of the country, or countries, with 
respect to which the President is negotiating * * *'' and the function 
in section 2102(c)(9), which requires that the President ``with respect 
to any trade agreement which the President seeks to implement under 
trade authorities procedures, submit to the Congress a report 
describing the extent to which the country or countries that are 
parties to the agreement have in effect laws governing exploitative 
child labor.''

II. Information Sought

    Interested parties are invited to submit written information as 
specified below to be taken into account in drafting the required 
reports. Materials submitted should be confined to the specific topics 
of the reports. In particular, agencies are seeking written submissions 
on the following topics:
    1. Singapore's labor laws, including laws governing exploitative 
child labor, and Singapore's implementation and enforcement of such 
laws and regulations;
    2. The situation in Singapore with respect to core labor standards;
    3. Steps taken by Singapore to comply with International Labor 
Organization Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor; and
    4. The nature and extent, if any, of exploitative child labor in 
Singapore.
    Section 2113(6) of the Trade Act defines ``core labor standards'' 
as:
    (A) The right of association;
    (B) The right to organize and bargain collectively;
    (C) A prohibition on the use of any form of forced or compulsory 
labor;
    (D) A minimum age for the employment of children; and
    (E) Acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, 
hours of work, and occupational safety and health.

III. Requirements for Submissions

    To ensure prompt and full consideration of submissions, we strongly 
recommend that interested persons submit comments by electronic mail to 
the following e-mail address: [email protected]. Persons making 
submissions by e-mail should use the following subject line: 
``Singapore: Labor Rights and Child Labor Reports.'' Documents should 
be submitted in WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) format. Supporting 
documentation submitted as spreadsheets is acceptable in Quattro Pro or 
Excel format. Persons who make submissions by e-mail should not provide 
separate cover letters; information that might appear in a cover letter 
should be included in the submission itself. Similarly, to the extent 
possible, any attachments to the submission should be included in the 
same file as the submission itself, and not as separate files. Written 
comments will be placed in a file open to public inspection at the 
Department of Labor, Room S-5317, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington DC and in the USTR Reading Room in Room 3 of the annex of 
the Office of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. An 
appointment to review the file at the Department of Labor may be made 
by contacting Betsy White at (202) 693-4919. An appointment to review 
the file at USTR may be made by calling (202) 395-6186. The USTR 
Reading Room is generally open to the public from 10 a.m.-12 noon and 
1-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Appointments must be scheduled at least 
48 hours in advance.

    Signed at Washington, DC this 22nd day of January, 2003.
Michael A. Magan,
Associate Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-1851 Filed 1-27-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-28-P