[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 134 (Wednesday, July 14, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42212-42214]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-15963]


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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.

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 by the 
Department of Labor in preparation of an annual report on certain trade 
beneficiary countries' implementation of international commitments to 
eliminate the worst forms of child labor. This will be the fourth such 
report by the Department of Labor under the Trade and Development Act 
of 2000 (TDA).

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 13, 2004.

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)

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693-4830. The Department of Labor's international child labor reports 
can be found 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 a new eligibility criterion for receipt of 
trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), 
Caribbean Basin Trade and Partnership Act (CBTPA), and Africa Growth 
and Opportunity Act (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.''
    Likewise, Title II of the TDA includes as a criterion 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, Algeria, 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, 
Christmas Islands, Cocos Islands, Colombia, Comoros, Republic of Congo, 
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote 
d'Ivoire, Croatia, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, 
Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Falkland 
Islands, Fiji, Gabon, the Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, 
Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Heard Island and 
MacDonald Islands, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, 
Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Macedonia, 
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, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint 
Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, 
Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, 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 and Gaza 
Strip, Western Sahara, Republic of Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
    Countries eligible or potentially eligible for additional benefits 
under the AGOA include: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cape Verde, 
Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote 
d'Ivoire, Djibouti, 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, and 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, and 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.

Definition of Worst Forms of Child Labor

    The term ``worst forms of child labor'' is defined in section 
412(b) of the TDA as comprising:
    * * * (A) 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;
    (B) The use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for 
the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;
    (C) 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; and
    (D) 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

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conditions where children are unreasonably confined to the premises of 
the employer.
    The TDA Conference Report further indicated that this phrase 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 9th day of July, 2004.
Arnold Levine,
Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for International Labor Affairs.
[FR Doc. 04-15963 Filed 7-13-04; 8:45 am]
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