[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 172 (Thursday, September 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72428-72430]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-18767]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Notice of Final Determination To Remove Shrimp From Thailand and
Garments From Vietnam From 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.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final determination revises 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) as published in the January 18, 2001 Federal
Register (66 FR 5351). On May 10, 2024, DOL, in consultation and
cooperation with DOS and DHS, published a Notice of Initial
Determination in the Federal Register proposing to remove shrimp from
Thailand and garments from Vietnam from the E.O. List (89 FR 40509).
The initial determination stated the Departments had preliminarily
determined that the use of forced or indentured child labor in the
production of those products had been significantly reduced and invited
public comments until June 10, 2024, on whether these products should
be removed from the E.O. List.
The initial determination, and the public comments submitted, can
be viewed at Docket ID No. DOL-2024-0003 or requested from Ryan Olden
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) 693-48467, 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.
During the public comment period, DOL received one comment, which
was submitted by the National Fisheries Institute (NSI). The comment
made reference back to a previous comment NSI had submitted on a past
notice (USTR-2023-0003), published by the Office of the United States
Trade Representative (USTR). DOL, however, was unable to locate the
referenced comment, and thus could not consider it as part of its final
determination whether to remove shrimp from Thailand and/or garments
from Vietnam from the E.O. 13126 List. DOL located a separate comment
from the NSI on another USTR notification (USTR-2022-0006), which
outlines the NSI's recommendations related to a proposed USTR forced
labor strategy. However,
[[Page 72429]]
DOL ultimately determined that the comment was not responsive to the
Notice of Initial Determination, as it did not contain relevant
information specific to forced child labor in the production of either
shrimp from Thailand or garments from Vietnam.
Following the closure of the comment period on June 10, 2024, the
Departments concluded that based on available information, there is no
longer a reasonable basis to believe that forced or indentured child
labor is used in the production of the following products, identified
by their countries of origin:
Product: Shrimp
Country: Thailand
DOL has received recent, credible, and corroborated information
from various sources on shrimp production in Thailand. This information
indicates that while children previously worked under forced labor
conditions in the production of shrimp, the use of forced child labor
appears to have been significantly reduced. Therefore, the Departments
have concluded that there is no longer a reasonable basis to believe
that shrimp from Thailand is produced by forced or indentured child
labor, except in a few isolated instances, and therefore it should not
remain on the E.O. List.
DOL placed shrimp from Thailand on the E.O. List in 2009, and to
date, the listing cites 11 sources dating from 2006 to 2015. Sources
indicated that children in Thailand--primarily migrant children--were
peeling shrimp in small, unregulated ``shrimp sheds.'' In more than
isolated incidents, these migrant children were engaged in forced child
labor. Following international attention and action on labor
exploitation in Thailand's seafood industry, the Royal Thai Government
(RTG) and other stakeholders made a series of concerted significant
efforts to address child labor and forced child labor throughout the
seafood industry, including in the shrimp peeling sector.
The RTG acceded to the ILO's Maritime Labor Convention and the
ILO's Work in Fishing Convention and passed the Ministerial Regulation
Prohibiting Children in Seafood Processing. The RTG also enacted the
Royal Ordinance on Fisheries, which enhanced traceability systems of
aquatic resources in Thailand, inclusive of shrimp processing, and
strengthened migrant worker recruitment regulations through revisions
in the Labor Protection Act of 1998 and the Royal Ordinance on Foreign
Worker Management (No. 2). Additionally, the RTG collaborated with
international nongovernmental organizations to implement projects
focused on eliminating forced child labor and child labor in the
seafood processing sector, including the Combatting Unacceptable Forms
of Work in the Thai Fishing and Seafood Industry program funded by the
ILO and the European Union; the FAIR Fish program funded by DOL; and
the Ship to Shore project funded by the EU. Private sector entities
also acted against forced child labor by formalizing their supply
chains, eliminating nearly all unregulated ``shrimp sheds'' in which
child labor and forced child labor were previously documented. In 2023,
Thai government officials, an industry trade group, workers'
associations, international organizations, and nongovernmental
organizations reported that incidents of forced child labor in shrimp
processing had been reduced to no more than isolated cases. DOL's
review of available information corroborated that forced child labor in
the production of shrimp had been significantly reduced to isolated
incidents.
Product: Garments
Country: Vietnam
DOL has also received recent, credible, and corroborated
information from various sources on garment production in Vietnam. This
information indicates that while children previously worked under
forced labor conditions in the production of garments, the use of
forced child labor appears to have been significantly reduced.
Therefore, the Departments have concluded that there is no longer a
reasonable basis to believe that garments from Vietnam are produced by
forced or indentured child labor, except in a few isolated instances,
and therefore it should not continue to be on the E.O. List.
DOL placed garments from Vietnam on the E.O. List in 2012, and to
date, the listing cites 18 sources dating from 2008 to 2015. Sources
indicated that children in Vietnam--primarily children from rural
areas--were being trafficked from their homes to Ho Chi Minh City,
where they were coerced to work, and often live, in garment factories.
Reports indicated that children working in the sector were underpaid,
forced to work long hours, and in many cases were found living in the
workshops. Between 2010 and 2014 there were between 20 and 64 children
trafficked for these purposes each year, after which the number of
child trafficking cases dropped rapidly. Reporting that exposed this
trafficking pipeline was led by data from Blue Dragon Children's
Foundation (BDCF)--a local NGO which functions as a key partner to the
Vietnamese police. According to the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and its
contacts, all forced child labor cases in Vietnamese garment factories
go through BDCF for intervention, removal of children from the
trafficking situations, and victim services.
Research indicates that following reports of forced child labor in
the sector, the police worked quickly and effectively to identify both
victims and perpetrators of this trafficking pipeline. The police shut
down all responsible criminal enterprises. According to a 2021 BDCF
report, BDCF rescue operations for victims of trafficking have not
uncovered a child in sweatshop labor since 2017.
Since the addition of garments to the E.O. List in 2012, Vietnam
has made efforts in its legal framework, partnerships, and enforcement
efforts to eradicate and prevent forced child labor in this sector.
Vietnam enacted a Labor Code in 2012 prohibiting unlawful, underage,
and/or forced labor of children, and included regulations on the
employment of minors including working hours, working times of day, and
types of work allowed for minors. Vietnam specifically prohibited
minors from operating fabric and yarn-starching machines as well as
dyeing and dry-cleaning fabric and yarn, criminalized child
trafficking, and affirmed the right of children to be protected from
labor exploitation. Additionally, Vietnam has conducted two national
programs on the reduction of child labor and has conducted a national
survey on child labor. The government continues to work with Blue
Dragon, as well as other INGOs and NGOs like the ILO, Fair Wear
Foundation, and Better Work. Vietnam actively collaborates with
stakeholders on programs like ENHANCE, which aims to build governmental
capacity to address and prevent child labor; and Fear Wear's
programming which brings together key stakeholders to enhance the
rights of garment workers. Reports also indicate that grievance
mechanisms exist and are accessible for garment workers.
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.'' The E.O. defines ``forced
or indentured child labor'' as ``all work or service (1) exacted from
any person
[[Page 72430]]
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,
the Department of Labor 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 (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). This
list included 11 goods produced in 12 countries. DOL 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
(66 FR 5351).
The Procedural Guidelines provide that the E.O. List may be revised
through consideration of submissions by individuals and on the three
Departments' own initiative. When proposing a revision to the E.O.
List, DOL must publish in the Federal Register a notice of initial
determination, 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.
On January 18, 2001, pursuant to Section 3 of E.O. 13126, the
Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council published a final rule to
implement specific provisions of E.O. 13126 that require, among other
things, that Federal contractors who supply products that appear on the
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 (48 CFR subpart 22.15).
On September 11, 2009, the Department of Labor published an initial
determination in the Federal Register proposing to revise the E.O. 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 E.O. List was revised
again in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2019, and 2022. The most recent E.O.
List, with this published notice, includes 33 products from 25
countries.
The current E.O. List and the Procedural Guidelines can be accessed
at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-products or can be obtained from: OCFT, Bureau of 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-
4830.
(Authority: E.O. 13126, 64 FR 32383)
Signed at Washington, DC.
Thea Mei Lee,
Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2024-18767 Filed 9-4-24; 8:45 am]
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