[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 231 (Tuesday, December 2, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71448-71449]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-27624]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR


Notice of Initial Determination Revising the List of Products 
Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured 
Child Labor Pursuant to Executive Order 13126

AGENCY: Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), Department of 
Labor.

ACTION: Request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This initial determination proposes to revise the list (EO 
List) required by Executive Order No. 13126 (``Prohibition of 
Acquisition of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor'') 
in accordance with the Department of Labor's ``Procedural Guidelines 
for the Maintenance of the List of Products Requiring Federal 
Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured Child Labor'' (the 
Procedural Guidelines). The EO List identifies products, by their 
country of origin, that the Department of Labor (DOL), in consultation 
and cooperation with the Departments of State and Homeland Security 
(the three Departments), has a reasonable basis to believe might have 
been mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or indentured child 
labor. This notice proposes to add one new line item (carpets from 
India) to the EO List. DOL invites public comment on this initial 
determination. The three Departments will consider all public comments 
prior to publishing a final determination revising the EO List.

DATES: Information should be submitted to the Office of Child Labor, 
Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT) via one of the methods 
described below by no later than 5 p.m., January 30, 2015.
    To Submit Information, or For Further Information, Contact:
    Information submitted to DOL should be submitted directly to OCFT, 
Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, at 
(202) 693-4843 (this is not a toll free number). Comments, identified 
as ``Docket No. DOL-2014-0004,'' may be submitted by any of the 
following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. The portal 
includes instructions for submitting comments. Parties submitting 
responses electronically are encouraged not to submit paper copies.
    Facsimile (fax): OCFT, at 202-693-4830.
    Mail, Express Delivery, Hand Delivery, and Messenger Service (2 
copies): Rachel Rigby/Charita Castro, at U.S. Department of Labor, 
OCFT, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 200 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Room S-5317, Washington, DC 20210.
    Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Information Sought

    DOL is requesting public comment on the revisions to the list 
proposed below, as well as any other issue related to the fair and 
effective implementation of Executive Order (EO) 13126. This notice is 
a general solicitation of comments from the public. All submitted 
comments will be made a part of the public record and will be available 
for inspection on http://www.regulations.gov.
    In conducting research for this initial determination, DOL 
considered a wide variety of materials based on its own research and 
originating from other U.S. Government agencies, foreign governments, 
international organizations, non-governmental organizations, U.S. 
Government-funded technical assistance and field research projects, 
academic and other independent research, media, and other sources. The 
Department of State and U.S. embassies and consulates abroad also 
provide important information by gathering data from contacts, 
conducting site visits and reviewing local media sources. In developing 
the proposed revision to the EO List, DOL's review focused on 
information concerning the use of forced or indentured child labor that 
was available from the above sources.
    As outlined in the Procedural Guidelines, several factors were 
weighed in determining whether or not a product should be placed on the 
revised EO List: The nature of the information describing the use of 
forced or indentured child labor; the source of the information; the 
date of the information; the extent of corroboration of the information 
by other sources; whether the information involved more

[[Page 71449]]

than an isolated incident; and whether recent and credible efforts are 
being made to address forced or indentured child labor in a particular 
country or industry (66 FR 5351).
    This notice constitutes the initial determination to revise the EO 
List issued July 23, 2013.
    Based on recent, credible and appropriately corroborated 
information from various sources, DOL preliminarily concludes that 
there is a reasonable basis to believe that the following product, 
identified by the country of origin, might have been mined, produced, 
or manufactured by forced or indentured child labor:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   Product                              Country
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carpets......................................  India.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOL invites public comment on whether this product (and/or other 
products, regardless of whether they are mentioned in this Notice) 
should be included in or removed from the revised EO List. To the 
extent possible, comments provided should address the criteria for 
inclusion of a product on the EO List contained in the Procedural 
Guidelines discussed above.
    A bibliography providing the preliminary basis for adding this good 
to the EO List are available on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-products/.
    Following receipt and consideration of comments on the addition to 
the EO List set out above, DOL, in consultation and cooperation with 
the Departments of State and Homeland Security, will issue a final 
determination in the Federal Register.The three Departments intend to 
continue to revise the EO List periodically to add and/or remove 
products as warranted by the receipt of new and credible information.

II. Background

    On June 12, 1999 President Clinton signed EO 13126, which was 
published in the Federal Register on June 16, 1999 (64 FR 32383). EO 
13126 declared that it was ``the policy of the United States Government 
. . . that executive agencies shall take appropriate actions to enforce 
the laws prohibiting the manufacture or importation of goods, wares, 
articles, and merchandise mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in 
part by forced or indentured child labor.'' Pursuant to EO 13126, and 
following public notice and comment, DOL published in the January 18, 
2001 Federal Register the first EO List of products, along with their 
respective countries of origin, that DOL, in consultation and 
cooperation with the Departments of State and Treasury (whose relevant 
responsibilities are 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).
    The Procedural Guidelines provide that the EO List may be revised 
through consideration of submissions by individuals and on DOL's own 
initiative. When proposing a revision to the EO List, DOL must publish 
in the Federal Register a notice of initial determination, which 
includes any proposed alteration to the EO List. DOL will consider all 
public comments prior to the publication of a final determination of a 
revised EO List, which is made in consultation and cooperation with the 
Departments of State and Homeland Security.
    On January 18, 2001, pursuant to Section 3 of EO 13126, the Federal 
Acquisition Regulatory Council published a final rule to implement 
specific provisions of EO 13126 that requires, among other things, that 
federal contractors who supply products that appear on the EO List 
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 forced or 
indentured child labor. See 48 CFR Subpart 22.15.
    On September 11, 2009, DOL published an initial determination in 
the Federal Register proposing to revise the EO List to include 29 
products from 21 countries. The Notice requested public comments for a 
period of 90 days. Public comments were received and reviewed by all 
relevant agencies and a final determination was issued on July 20, 
2010. Following the same process, the EO List was revised again in 
2011, 2012, and 2013. The most recent EO List, finalized on July 23, 
2013, includes 34 products from 26 countries.
    The current EO List and the Procedural Guidelines can be accessed 
on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-products/ or can be obtained from: OCFT, 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.

III. Definitions

    Under Section 6(c) of EO 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.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 14th day of November 2014.
Carol Pier,
Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2014-27624 Filed 12-1-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-28-P