[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 14, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1591-1595]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-00513]
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice: 12906]
Request for Information for the 2026 Trafficking in Persons
Report
SUMMARY: The Department of State (``the Department'') submits this
annual request to the public, through the Federal Register, seeking
written information to assist in reporting on the degree to which the
United States and foreign governments meet the minimum standards for
the elimination of trafficking in persons (``minimum standards'') that
are prescribed by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
DATES: Submissions must be made in writing to the Office to Monitor and
Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) at the Department of State by 5
p.m. EST on February 27, 2026.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This written information will assist in the
preparation of the Trafficking in Persons
[[Page 1592]]
Report (``TIP Report''), which the Department submits annually to the
U.S. Congress on governments' concrete actions to meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons (``minimum
standards'') that are prescribed by the Trafficking Victims Protection
Act of 2000 (Div. A, Pub. L. 106-386), as amended (``TVPA''). Foreign
governments that do not meet the minimum standards and are not making
significant efforts to do so may be subject to restrictions on
nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance from the United
States, as defined by the TVPA. Please refer to the Information Sought
Relevant to the Minimum Standards section of this Notice for the
questionnaire and to the Scope of Interest and Information Sought
sections for additional instructions on submission requirements.
Written submissions and supporting documentation may be submitted by
the following method:
Email: [email protected] for submissions related to
foreign governments and [email protected] for submissions related
to the United States.
Scope of Interest: The Department requests information relevant to
assessing the United States' and foreign governments' concrete actions
to meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in
persons during the reporting period (April 1, 2025-March 31, 2026). The
minimum standards are listed in the Background section. Submissions
must include information relevant to efforts to meet the minimum
standards and should include, but need not be limited to, answering the
questions in the Information Sought section. Submissions need not
include answers to all the questions; only those questions for which
the submitter has direct professional experience should be answered,
and that experience should be noted. For any critique or deficiency
described, please provide a recommendation to remedy it. Note the
country or countries that are the focus of the submission.
Submissions may include written narratives answering the questions
presented in this Notice, research, studies, statistics, fieldwork,
training materials, evaluations, assessments, and other relevant
evidence of local, state/provincial, and federal/central government
efforts. To the extent possible, please include precise dates and
numbers of officials or individuals affected.
Written narratives providing factual information should provide
citations of sources, and copies of and links to the source material
should be provided. Please send electronic copies of the entire
submission, including source material. If primary sources are used,
such as research studies, interviews, direct observations, or other
sources of quantitative or qualitative data, provide details on the
research or data-gathering methodology and any supporting
documentation. The Department only includes in the TIP Report
information related to trafficking in persons as defined by the TVPA
(see definition below).
Confidentiality: Please provide the name, phone number, and email
address of a single point of contact for any submission. It is
Department practice not to identify in the TIP Report information
concerning sources. Note, however, that any information submitted to
the Department may be releasable pursuant to the provisions of the
Freedom of Information Act or other applicable law. Submissions related
to the United States will be shared with U.S. government agencies, as
will submissions relevant to efforts of other U.S. government agencies.
Response: This is a request for information only; there will be no
response to submissions. Remuneration for responses will not be
provided. In order to expend appropriated funds, there must be specific
authority to do so. The Department of State has no authority to expend
funds for this purpose.
Background
Definitions: The TVPA defines ``severe forms of trafficking in
persons'' as:
The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision,
obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of a
commercial sex act that is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in
which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years
of age.
[cir] Persons under age 18 in commercial sex are trafficking in
persons victims regardless of whether force, fraud, or coercion were
involved.
The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or
obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force,
fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of subjection to involuntary
servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
[cir] Forced labor may take the form of domestic servitude, forced
begging, forced criminal activity (e.g., drug smuggling), and prison
labor that is not a consequence of a conviction in a court of law.
Children recruited or used as soldiers or for labor or
services can be a severe form of human trafficking when the activity
involves force, fraud, or coercion. Children may be victims regardless
of gender.
The TIP Report: The TIP Report assesses governments' efforts
worldwide to combat trafficking in persons. It represents an annual
global assessment of the nature and scope of trafficking in persons and
the broad range of government actions to confront and eliminate it. The
U.S. government uses the TIP Report to inform diplomacy, encourage
partnership in creating and implementing laws and policies to combat
trafficking, and target resources on prevention, protection, and
prosecution programs. Prosecuting traffickers, protecting victims, and
preventing trafficking are the ultimate goals of the TIP Report and of
the U.S government's anti-trafficking policy.
The TIP Report focuses on concrete actions made by governments to
fight trafficking in persons, including prosecutions, convictions, and
sentences for traffickers, as well as victim identification and
protection measures and prevention efforts. Rankings only consider
government actions to combat human trafficking, not the activities of
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or international organizations.
Each TIP Report country narrative includes prioritized recommendations
for each country. These recommendations are used to assist the
Department in measuring governments' progress from one year to the next
and determining whether governments meet the minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking in persons or are making significant efforts
to do so.
The TVPA creates a four-tier ranking system. Tier placement is
based principally on the extent of concrete government action to combat
trafficking. The Department first evaluates whether the government
fully meets the TVPA's minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking, as set forth in Sec. 108 of the TVPA, as amended (22
U.S.C. 7106). Governments that do so are placed on Tier 1. For other
governments, the Department considers the extent of such efforts.
Governments that are making significant efforts to meet the minimum
standards are placed on Tier 2. Governments that do not fully meet the
minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so are
placed on Tier 3. Finally, the Department considers Watch List criteria
and, when applicable, places countries on the Tier 2 Watch List. For
more information, the 2025 TIP Report can be found at
[[Page 1593]]
www.state.gov/reports/2025-trafficking-in-persons-report.
The 2025 TIP Report included 188 countries and territories. Around
the world, the TIP Report has inspired legislation, national action
plans, policy implementation, program funding, protection mechanisms to
complement prosecution efforts, and a stronger global understanding of
this crime.
Since 2010, the TIP Report, through a collaborative interagency
process, has included an assessment of U.S. government anti-trafficking
efforts in light of the minimum standards to eliminate trafficking in
persons set forth by the TVPA.
The Department will maintain adherence to its statutory mandates
but may further streamline the TIP Report. Submissions may include
input on how the Department could achieve this, which will be
considered in preparing for future TIP Reports.
Information Sought Relevant to the Minimum Standards
Submissions should include, but need not be limited to, answers to
relevant questions below directly connected with the TVPA Minimum
Standards for which the submitter has direct professional experience
within the reporting period (April 1, 2025-March 31, 2026). Please see
the Scope of Interest section above for detailed information regarding
submission requirements.
Overview
1. What were the government's major accomplishments in addressing
human trafficking since April 1, 2025? In what significant ways have
the government's efforts to combat trafficking in persons changed in
the past year? How have new laws, regulations, policies, or
implementation strategies (e.g., substantive criminal laws and
procedures, mechanisms for civil remedies, and victim-witness programs,
generally and in relation to court proceedings) affected its anti-
trafficking response?
2. Over the past year, what were the greatest deficiencies in the
government's anti-trafficking efforts? What were the limitations on the
government's ability to address human trafficking problems in practice?
3. Provide observations regarding the implementation of existing
laws, policies, and procedures. Are there gaps in anti-trafficking
legislation that could be amended to improve the government's response?
Are there any government policies that have undermined or otherwise
negatively affected anti-trafficking efforts within that country?
Trafficking Profile
4. Describe human trafficking trends, drivers, methods, source/
destination dynamics, industries and sectors, impacted demographics,
recruitment methods, etc. during the reporting period. Please report
the profile of victims at particular risk of sex trafficking or labor
trafficking, including any changes since the last reporting period
(e.g., men, women, children, migrants, certain ethnic groups). Please
note whether there was labor trafficking or sex trafficking by
narcotics traffickers, those involved in migrant smuggling or other
migration schemes, and gangs.
5. Are any Chinese, Cuban, or North Korean persons present in the
country as part of government-to-government agreements and/or in
foreign government-affiliated projects? If present, are these
individuals subjected to or at high risk of forced labor?
6. If applicable, describe how traffickers used technology to
recruit and exploit victims and how the government responded to tech-
facilitated human trafficking.
Prosecution
7. Do government officials, including judges, understand the nature
of all forms of trafficking? If not, provide examples. Did the
government effectively provide or support anti-trafficking trainings
for officials, including on enforcement of policies, and laws; and/or
on victim identification measures or procedures? If not, how could it
be improved?
8. Provide observations on overall efforts to criminally
investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers. Is the government
equally vigorous in pursuing forced labor and sex trafficking, domestic
and transnational trafficking, and crimes that involve its own
nationals or foreign citizens?
9. Does law enforcement pursue trafficking cases seeking to hold
criminally accountable private employers or corporations for forced
labor in supply chains?
10. Describe any allegations of official complicity in trafficking
crimes, including of state-sponsored forced labor. What measures did
the government take to end or prevent official complicity in
trafficking in persons crimes? How did the government respond to
reports of complicity during the reporting period, including
investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentencing of complicit
officials?
11. Is there evidence nationals of the country deployed abroad as
part of a diplomatic, peacekeeping, or other similar mission have
engaged in or facilitated trafficking, including in domestic servitude?
Has the government vigorously investigated, prosecuted, convicted, and
sentenced nationals engaged in these activities?
12. If the government has entered into a bilateral, multilateral,
or regional anti-trafficking information-sharing and cooperation
arrangements, is the agreement effective and has it resulted in
concrete and measurable outcomes?
Protection
13. Did the government make a coordinated, proactive effort to
identify victims of all forms of trafficking? If there were any new (or
changes to preexisting) formal/standard procedures for screening for
trafficking and for victim referral to protection services, were those
procedures sufficient and how did the government implement them?
14. If the government had written procedures to guide officials in
referring potential trafficking victims to services, did front-line
officials implement the referral procedures and was implementation
consistent across all affected populations? Did officials effectively
coordinate among one another and with relevant NGOs to conduct
screenings and refer victims to care? Did the referral procedures
require victims to interact with law enforcement before being referred
to social service providers?
15. Did government policy require a person to be formally
identified as a trafficking victim to receive certain services or
benefits? If yes, which services or benefits were limited to people
formally identified as trafficking victims?
16. If commercial sex is legalized or decriminalized in the
country, how did health officials, labor inspectors, or police identify
trafficking victims among persons involved in commercial sex? If
commercial sex is illegal, did the government proactively identify
trafficking victims during law enforcement operations or other
encounters with commercial sex establishments?
17. What was the overall quality of victim care? Were there any new
(or changes to preexisting) services available for victims and
survivors (legal, medical, food, shelter, interpretation, mental health
care, employment, training, etc.)? If NGOs provide the services, does
the government support their work either financially or otherwise? Did
all victims
[[Page 1594]]
and survivors of both labor and sex trafficking receive the same
quality and level of access to services?
18. Where were child victims placed (e.g., in shelters, foster
care, or juvenile justice detention centers), and what kind of
specialized care did they receive?
19. If the government operates or funds any trafficking-specific
hotlines (including those run by NGOs), did calls to those hotlines
lead to victim identification, victim referral to care, and/or criminal
investigations?
20. What is the level of cooperation, communication, and trust
between service providers and law enforcement?
21. Were there means by which victims could obtain restitution from
defendants in criminal cases or file civil suits against traffickers
for damages, and did this happen in practice? Did prosecutors request
and/or courts order restitution in all cases where it was required, and
if not, why?
22. Please provide observations on the treatment of victims and
survivors throughout the criminal legal process. How did the government
support victims who assisted in the investigation and prosecution of
trafficking cases? Did service providers have the knowledge and skills
to support victims through a consistent victim-centered approach? What,
if any, alternatives were available to victims instead of speaking to
law enforcement during investigations (for example, speaking to a
victim-witness advocate, social worker, psychologist, etc.)? In what
ways could the government increase support for victims in prosecutions
against traffickers?
23. Did the government protect victims of severe forms of
trafficking and encourage their assistance in the investigation and
prosecution of such trafficking, including through provisions for legal
alternatives to their removal to countries in which they would face
retribution or hardship? Were such benefits linked to whether a victim
assisted law enforcement, whether a victim participated in a trial, or
whether there was a successful prosecution? Does the government
repatriate victims who wish to return home or assist with third-country
resettlement, and are victims awaiting repatriation or third-country
resettlement offered services?
24. Does the government effectively assist its nationals exploited
abroad? Does the government provide adequate assistance to repatriated
victims after their return to their countries of origin, and if so,
what forms of assistance?
25. Were potential trafficking victims incarcerated, fined, or
otherwise penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct
result of being trafficked (e.g., subject to commercial sex, drug-
related, or other criminal charges, or subject to deportation/
immigration enforcement or administrative penalties)?
Prevention
26. What efforts has the government made to prevent human
trafficking? If the government had a national action plan to address
trafficking, how was it implemented in practice? Were NGOs and other
relevant civil society stakeholders consulted in the development and
implementation of the plan? Who will monitor its implementation and/or
measure its impact?
27. Please describe any government-funded anti-trafficking
information or education campaigns or training, whether aimed at the
public or at specific sectors or stakeholders/actors. Were campaign
materials readily available, cost-free, and accessible in various
languages, including braille? Does the government provide financial
support to NGOs working to promote public awareness?
28. Did the government seek and include the input of civil society
and survivors in crafting or implementing anti-trafficking laws,
regulations, policies, or programs?
29. How did the government regulate, oversee, and screen for
trafficking indicators in the labor recruitment process, including for
both licensed and unlicensed recruitment and placement agencies,
individual recruiters, and sub-brokers? Did the government prohibit (in
any context) charging workers recruitment fees and prohibit the
recruitment of workers through knowingly fraudulent job offers
(including misrepresenting wages, working conditions, location, or
nature of the job), contract switching, and confiscating or otherwise
denying workers access to their identity documents? If there are laws
or regulations on recruitment, did the government effectively enforce
them? Did the government have mechanisms to prevent trafficking by
employers in migrant worker programs? Are workers in all industries
(e.g., domestic work, agriculture, etc.) sufficiently protected under
existing labor laws?
30. Did the government take tangible action to prevent forced labor
in domestic or global supply chains? Did the government make any
efforts to prohibit and prevent trafficking in the supply chains of its
own public procurement?
31. Did the government provide assistance to other governments in
combating trafficking in persons through trainings or other assistance
programs?
32. What measures have the government taken to reduce its
nationals' or foreigners' participation in domestic and
extraterritorial child sexual exploitation? Note: This was previously
covered as ``child sex tourism.''
Territories and Semi-Autonomous Regions
33. Provide any information about trafficking trends and government
anti-trafficking efforts in dependent territories and semi-autonomous
regions to prosecute traffickers, identify and provide services to
victims, and prevent trafficking.
Child Soldiering
34. Using the definition of ``child soldier'' as defined by the
Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 (CSPA), describe instances,
cases, and reports, including anecdotal reports, of:
a. Use of any person under the age of 18 in direct hostilities as a
member of governmental armed forces, police, or other security forces;
b. Conscription or forced recruitment of persons under the age of
18 into governmental armed forces, police, or other security forces;
c. Voluntary recruitment of any person under 15 years of age into
governmental armed forces, police, or other security forces;
d. Recruitment (forced or voluntary) or use in hostilities of
persons under the age of 18 by armed groups distinct from the armed
forces of a state.
e. Abuse of male and female children recruited by governmental
armed forces, police, or other security forces, and government-
supported armed groups (e.g., sexual abuse or use for forced labor).
Describe the manner and age of conscription, noting differences in
treatment or conscription patterns based on gender.
35. Did the government provide support to an armed group that
recruits and/or uses child soldiers? What was the extent of the support
(e.g., in-kind, financial, training, etc.)? Where did the provision of
support occur (within the country or outside of the country)? In cases
where the government was included on the CSPA list in 2025 based on its
support to non-state armed groups that recruit and/or use child
soldiers, describe whether the government took steps to pressure the
group to cease its recruitment or use of child soldiers, publicly
disavow the group's
[[Page 1595]]
recruitment or use of child soldiers, or cease its support to that
group.
36. Describe any government efforts to prevent or end child soldier
recruitment or use, including efforts to disarm, demobilize, and
reintegrate former child soldiers. (i.e., enacting any laws or
regulations, implementing a United Nations Action Plan or Roadmap,
specialized training for officials, procedures for age verification,
etc.)
Rachel M. Poynter,
Acting Director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons,
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2026-00513 Filed 1-13-26; 8:45 am]
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