[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 125 (Monday, June 30, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38722-38724]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-16420]


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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.

[[Page 38723]]


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 Trade and Development Act of 2000 (TDA) established 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 annual findings with respect to 
beneficiary countries' implementation of their international 
commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. The first 
annual report under the TDA was published on July 12, 2002. This 
information request is for use in producing the third report.

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., August 1, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Written submissions should be addressed to Tina Faulkner 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: Tina Faulkner, Bureau of International 
Labor Affairs, International Child Labor Program, at (202)693-4846; fax 
(202)693-4830. The Department of Labor's international child labor 
reports can be read on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/media/reports/iclp/main.htm or can be obtained from the International Child 
Labor Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Trade and Development Act of 2000 [Pub. 
L. 106-200], established new eligibility criteria concerning 
beneficiary country 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 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.''
    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: Afghanistan, 
Albania, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, 
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia 
and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, British 
Indian Ocean Territory, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, 
Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Christmas 
Islands, Cocos Islands, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo 
(Kinshasa), Cook Island, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Czech 
Republic, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El 
Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland 
Islands, Fiji, Gabon, the Gambia, Gaza Strip, Georgia, Ghana, 
Gibraltar, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, 
Heard Island and MacDonald Islands, 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, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, 
Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Island, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New 
Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn Island, Poland, Romania, 
Russia, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint 
Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, 
Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, 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, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, 
Venezuela, Wallis and Futuna, West Bank, Western Sahara, Republic of 
Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
    Countries eligible or potentially eligible for additional benefits 
under the AGOA include: Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central 
African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Kinshasa), Cote d'Ivoire, 
Djibouti, Eritrea, 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, Zambia.
    Countries potentially eligible for additional benefits under the 
CBTPA are: Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El 
Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, 
Panama, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago.

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.

[[Page 38724]]

Definition of ``Worst Forms of Child Labor''

    The term ``Worst Forms of Child Labor'' in the TDA is defined by 
International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182, which 
defines a 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 20th day of June, 2003.
Arnold Levine,
Associate Deputy Under Secretary for International Labor Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-16420 Filed 6-27-03; 8:45 am]
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