[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 15, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61170-61171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-24410]


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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

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Labor.

ACTION: Request for information on forced child labor in the production 
of bricks, coal, foundry products, chemicals, cotton, grape products, 
toys, and fireworks in China.

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SUMMARY: This notice is a request for information to assist the 
Department of Labor in conducting a review of a submission on forced 
child labor in the production of bricks, coal, foundry products, 
chemicals, cotton, grape products, toys, and fireworks in China. This 
review is being conducted pursuant to Executive Order 13126 
(``Prohibition of Acquisition of Products 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'' at 48 CFR 
Subpart 22.15.
    The Department anticipates that written information regarding 
forced child labor in the above products in China will aid it in 
determining, in consultation with the Departments of State and Homeland 
Security, whether these products, and their 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 Office of Child Labor, Forced 
Labor and Human Trafficking (OCFT) at the address below by 5 p.m., 
December 15, 2008.
    To Submit Information, or for Further Information, Contact: OCFT, 
Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor at 
(202) 693-4843 (this is not a toll free number). Information may be 
submitted by the following methods:
     Facsimile (fax): OCFT at 202-693-4830.
     Mail, Express Delivery, Hand Delivery, and Messenger 
Service: Brandie Sasser at U.S. Department of Labor, OCFT, Bureau of 
International Labor Affairs, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room S-5317, 
Washington, DC 20210.
     E-mail: [email protected].

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 
(the ``List''), identified by their country of origin, that the 
Department, in consultation and cooperation with the Departments of 
State and Treasury [relevant responsibilities now within the Department 
of Homeland Security], had a reasonable basis to believe might have 
been mined, produced or manufactured with forced or indentured child 
labor (66 FR 5353). In addition to the List, the Department also 
published on January 18, 2001, ``Procedural Guidelines for Maintenance 
of the List of Products Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as 
to Forced or Indentured Child Labor,'' which provide for maintaining, 
reviewing, and, as appropriate, revising the list of products required 
by Executive Order 13126 (66 FR 5351). The List can be accessed on the 
Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ilab

[[Page 61171]]

or can be obtained from: Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human 
Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Room S-5317, 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 OCFT.
    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, providing that federal contractors who 
supply products that 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. 
See 48 CFR Subpart 22.15.

II. China Executive Order Submission

    The Department of Labor accepted for review a submission under 
Executive Order 13126 regarding the use of forced child labor in the 
production of bricks, coal, foundry products, chemicals, cotton, grape 
products, toys, and fireworks in China. Since accepting the submission 
for official review, OCFT has been collecting and assessing additional 
information on the topic from a variety of sources.

III. Definition of Forced/Indentured Child Labor

    Under Section 6(c) 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.

Information Sought

    The Department is requesting information about forced child labor 
in the production of bricks, coal, foundry products, chemicals, cotton, 
grape products, toys, and/or fireworks in China, as well as information 
on efforts made by the Government of China to address these problems. 
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 9th day of October 2008.
Marcia Eugenio,
Director, Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking.
[FR Doc. E8-24410 Filed 10-14-08; 8:45 am]
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