[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 38 (Wednesday, February 26, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 8928]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-4499]



[[Page 8928]]

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Request for Information 
Concerning Labor Rights in Chile 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 Chile 
and describing the extent to which Chile 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. On December 11, 2002, negotiators 
for the United States and Chile announced that they had reached 
substantive agreement on a Free Trade Agreement. On January 31, 2003, 
President Bush notified the Congress of his intent to enter into an FTA 
with Chile. This agreement will be subject to trade promotion authority 
procedures. 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.

DATES: Public comments should be received no later than 5 p.m. March 
28, 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. These are not toll-free numbers. Substantive 
questions concerning the labor rights report and/or the report on 
Chile'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. Chile's labor laws, including laws governing exploitative child 
labor, and Chile's implementation and enforcement of such laws and 
regulations;
    2. The situation in Chile with respect to core labor standards;
    3. Steps taken by Chile 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 
Chile.
    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

    This document is a request for facts or opinions submitted in 
response to a general solicitation of comments from the public. 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: ``Chile: 
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 20th day of February, 2003.
Thomas B. Moorhead,
Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-4499 Filed 2-25-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-28-P