[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41745-41747]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14799]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR


Notice of Final Determination To Add Cambodia Bricks to 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, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of final determination.

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SUMMARY: This notice is a final determination to revise the list 
required by Executive Order No. 13126 (``Prohibition of Acquisition of 
Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor'', hereafter the 
E.O. List). The E.O. List identifies a list of products, by their 
country of origin, that the Department of Labor (DOL), in consultation 
and cooperation with the Department of State (DOS) and the Department 
of Homeland Security (DHS) (collectively, the Departments), has a 
reasonable basis to believe might have been mined, produced, or 
manufactured by forced or indentured child labor. The Departments 
proposed adding bricks from Cambodia to the E.O. List in a Notice of 
Initial Determination that was published in the Federal Register on 
October 2, 2020. After a thorough review of the comments received and 
information available, the Departments have determined that the use of 
forced child labor in brick kilns in Cambodia has been occurring in 
more than isolated incidents. As a result, this product meets the 
criteria for inclusion in the E.O. List.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final determination is the sixth 
revision of the E.O. List required by E.O. 13126 in accordance with 
DOL's Procedural Guidelines for the Maintenance of the List of Products 
Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured 
Child Labor (Procedural Guidelines).

I. Initial Determination

    On October 2, 2020, DOL, in consultation and cooperation with DOS 
and DHS, published a Notice of Initial Determination in the Federal 
Register proposing to add bricks from Cambodia to the E.O. List.\1\ The 
initial determination stated the Departments had preliminarily 
determined that there was a reasonable basis to believe that bricks 
from Cambodia might have been mined, produced, or manufactured by 
forced or indentured child labor. Public comments remained open until 
December 1, 2020 on whether bricks from Cambodia should be added to the 
E.O. List, as well as any other issues related to the fair and 
effective implementation of E.O. 13126. The initial determination, and 
the public comments submitted, can be viewed at Docket ID No. DOL-2020-
0008 or requested from Nadia Al-Dayel at: Office of Child Labor, Forced 
Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT), Bureau of International Labor 
Affairs, Room S-5317, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-4896, email: [email protected]. Individuals with hearing or speech impairments 
may access the telephone number above via TTY by calling the Federal 
Information Relay Service at 1-877-889-5627.
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    \1\ 85 FR 62325. (October 2, 2020). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/10/02/2020-21789/notice-of-initial-determination-revising-the-list-of-products-requiring-federal-contractor.
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II. Public Comment Period

    During the public comment period, two comments were submitted. One 
comment received was an electronic message; however, the Department of 
Labor determined that the content of the comment was not applicable to 
the Notice of Initial Determination. The other comment received was a 
letter from the Minister of Labour and Vocational Training, on behalf 
of the Government of Cambodia. This comment is available for public 
viewing at http://www.regulations.gov (reference Docket ID No. DOL-
2020-0008).

[[Page 41746]]

    In its letter, the Government of Cambodia discussed the efforts it 
has made in combating the worst forms of child labor by addressing some 
of the gaps that were identified in the Cambodia profile in the 2019 
Findings on the Words Forms of Child Labor report.\2\
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    \2\ Government of Cambodia. Minister of Labor and Vocational 
Training Letter. November 10, 2020. https://www.regulations.gov/docket/DOL-2020-0008.
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III. Analysis of Comment Submitted

    After the public comment period closed on December 1, 2020, the 
Departments carefully reviewed and considered the public comments 
received.\3\ In so doing, the Departments considered and weighed the 
factors identified in the Procedural Guidelines: The source of the 
information presented, the date of the information, the extent of 
corroboration of the information, whether the information involved more 
than an isolated incident, and whether recent and credible efforts are 
being made to address forced or indentured child labor in the country 
and industry.\4\
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    \3\ Ibid.
    \4\ 66 FR 5351, at 5352. (January 18, 2001). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2001/01/18/01-952/bureau-of-international-labor-affairs-procedural-guidelines-for-the-maintenance-of-the-list-of.
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    The Government of Cambodia cited its efforts to address child 
labor, forced labor, and debt bondage at brick kilns by conducting a 
census of all 486 operational brick kilns in the country in 2019. The 
government stated that no child labor, forced labor, or debt bondage 
were found at any of these brick kilns, and they were working with 
local authorities to create accessible education for marginalized 
children found to be living in and around the brick kilns to stop them 
from dropping out of school. The Government of Cambodia's submission 
also reiterated that judges in Cambodia have a clear mandate to 
prosecute child labor crimes and issue fines, and that they will 
continue to investigate and prosecute all perpetrators of child labor 
violations.

IV. Final Determination

    The Departments have carefully reviewed and analyzed the comment 
submitted in considering whether to add bricks from Cambodia to the 
E.O. List. In addition, the Departments have continued to monitor the 
production of bricks since the issuance of the Initial Determination 
and will continue to monitor future brick production in the course of 
maintaining the E.O. List. The letter submitted from the Government of 
Cambodia failed to provide sufficient evidence to persuade the 
Departments to not include bricks on the E.O. List. The Government of 
Cambodia indicated in its letter that there were zero instances of 
child labor across 486 brick kilns. However, this information is 
inconsistent with the findings from an independent survey of the 
Cambodia brick industry. The independent survey found that child labor 
was occurring in brick kilns in more than isolated instances. Field 
research, including interviews with workers at brick kilns, also 
revealed that child labor occurred at brick kilns. The Departments 
conclude that based on available information, there is a reasonable 
basis to believe that bricks in Cambodia have been produced with the 
use of forced or indentured child labor in more than isolated 
incidents.

V. Background

    E.O. 13126 was signed on June 12, 1999 and published in the Federal 
Register on June 16, 1999 (64 FR 32383). E.O. 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.'' \5\ The E.O. defines ``forced or 
indentured child labor'' as:
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    \5\ 66 FR 32383. (June 12, 1999). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/1999/06/16/99-15491/prohibition-of-acquisition-of-products-produced-by-forced-or-indentured-child-labor.
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    [A]ll 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.
    Pursuant to E.O. 13126, and following public notice and comment, 
DOL published in the January 18, 2001 Federal Register the first E.O. 
List of products, along with their respective countries of origin, that 
DOL, in consultation and cooperation with the Department of State and 
the Department of the Treasury (relevant responsibilities now within 
DHS), had a reasonable basis to believe might have been mined, produced 
or manufactured by forced or indentured child labor.\6\
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    \6\ 66 FR 5353. (January 18, 2001). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2001/01/18/01-953/bureau-of-international-labor-affairs-notice-of-final-list-of-products-requiring-federal-contractor.
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    The Department also published the Procedural Guidelines on January 
18, 2001, which provide procedures for the maintenance, review, and, as 
appropriate, revision of the E.O. List.\7\ The Procedural Guidelines 
provide that the E.O. List may be revised through consideration of 
submissions by individuals and on the Department's own initiative. When 
proposing a revision to the E.O. List, DOL must publish a notice of 
initial determination in the Federal Register, which includes any 
proposed alteration to the E.O. List. The Departments will consider all 
public comments prior to the publication of a final determination of a 
revised E.O. List. The E.O. List was subsequently revised on July 20, 
2010; \8\ on May 31, 2011; \9\ on April 3, 2012; \10\ July 23, 2013; 
\11\ and on March 25, 2019.\12\ The most recent E.O. List, finalized on 
March 25, 2019, includes 34 products from 25 countries.\13\
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    \7\ 66 FR 5351, at 5352. (January 18, 2001). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2001/01/18/01-952/bureau-of-international-labor-affairs-procedural-guidelines-for-the-maintenance-of-the-list-of.
    \8\ 75 FR 42164. (July 20, 2010). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2010/07/20/2010-16886/notice-of-final-determination-updating-the-list-of-products-requiring-federal-contractor.
    \9\ 76 FR 31364. (May 31, 2011). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2011/05/31/2011-13342/notice-of-final-determination-revising-the-list-of-products-requiring-federal-contractor.
    \10\ 77 FR 20051. (April 3, 2012). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2012/04/03/2012-7961/notice-of-final-determination-revising-the-list-of-products-requiring-federal-contractor.
    \11\ 78 FR 44158. (July 23, 2013). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/07/23/2013-17520/notice-of-final-determination-revising-the-list-of-products-requiring-federal-contractor.
    \12\ 84 FR 11123. (March 25, 2019). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/03/25/2019-05360/notice-of-final-determination-to-remove-uzbek-cotton-from-the-list-of-products-requiring-federal#footnote-34-p11126.
    \13\ Department of Labor. List of Products Produced by Forced or 
Indentured Child Labor. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-products.
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    Under a final rule by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, 
which also implements E.O. 13126, federal contractors who supply 
products that appear on the E.O. List are required to certify, among 
other things, that they have 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. See 48 CFR subpart 22.15.
    The current E.O. List and Procedural Guidelines can be accessed at 
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-products?page=1 or can be obtained from: OCFT, Bureau of

[[Page 41747]]

International Labor Affairs, Room S-5313, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-
4843; fax (202) 693-4843.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on July 6, 2022.
Thea Lee,
Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2022-14799 Filed 7-12-22; 8:45 am]
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