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Labor Department Requests Information on Beneficiary Countries' Efforts to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor

The Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) has issued a notice requesting information, for use in preparing the eighth annual report, regarding the implementation of international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor by countries seeking benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), Caribbean Basin Trade and Partnership Act (CBTPA), the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and the Andean Trade Preference Act as amended and expanded by the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPA/ATPDEA).

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According to the ILAB, the Trade and Development Act of 2000 (TDA, Public Law 106-200) requires that this annual report include findings made by the Secretary of Labor with respect to beneficiary countries' implementation of their international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

GSP, CBTPA, AGOA, ATPA/ATPDEA Beneficiary Countries Must Meet Criterion

The ILAB states that the TDA established this eligibility criterion for receipt of trade benefits under the GSP, CBTPA, and AGOA. In addition, ILAB states that the ATPA/ATPDEA includes as a criterion for receiving benefits ''[w]hether the country has implemented its commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor as defined in section 507(6) of the Trade Act of 1974.''

TDA Definition of Worst Forms of Child Labor Based on ILO Convention

The term, "worst forms of child labor" in the TDA is based on International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182, which defines a child as all persons under the age of 18, and the worst forms of child labor as follows:

work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children (which the TDA Conference Report states is defined to include work with dangerous machinery, heavy loads, in an unhealthy environment, for long hours, etc.)

all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom, or forced or compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;

the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances; and

the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in relevant international treaties.

Trade Beneficiaries to Be Included in ILAB Report

ILAB has listed the following countries, non-independent countries, and territories as eligible or potentially eligible trade beneficiary countries:

GSP. See the ILAB notice for the list of over 130 countries, non-independent countries and territories presently eligible under the GSP and to be included in the report.

AGOA. Countries eligible or potentially eligible for additional benefits under the AGOA and to be included in the report are: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.

CBTPA. Countries potentially eligible for additional benefits under the CBTPA and to be included in the report are: Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.

ATPA/ATPDEA. Countries potentially eligible for additional benefits under the ATPA/ ATPDEA and to be included in this report are: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Additional countries. In addition, the following countries will be included in the report in view of Department of Labor Appropriations, 2006, Conference Report, H.R. Rep. 109-337 (2005): Bahrain, Chile, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Morocco, and Nicaragua.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 10/17/08 news, 08101715, for BP summary of Labor Dept request for information on forced labor in the production of certain products in China. See ITT's Online Archives or 01/02/08 news, 08010220, for BP summary of ILAB's final procedural guidelines for developing a list of goods for countries produced by child or forced labor.)

- written comments are due by 5 p.m. on January 26, 2009

ILAB Contact - Tina McCarter (202) 693-4843

ILAB notice (FR Pub 12/19/08) available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-30140.pdf