Labor Dept Issues 2009 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

Report Profiles Countries Designated as GSP Beneficiaries of Trade Preferences

The TDA expanded country eligibility criteria to be applied to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program and for trade benefits under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), and the Andean Trade Preference Act/Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPA/ATPDEA). The TDA also mandates that the Secretary of Labor report on each beneficiary country’s implementation of its international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

(The worst forms of child labor are all forms or practices of slavery, the sale or trafficking of children, debt bondage or serfdom; the forcible recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; the commercial sexual exploitation of children; the involvement of children in drug trafficking; and work that is likely to harm children’s health, safety, or morals.)

Report Closely Tracks Efforts to Meet GSP Obligations, Proposes Actions

Sections in this report differ from previous reports as government efforts are organized to more closely track the types of efforts that the congressional TDA Conference Committee report indicated the President should consider when determining whether a country has met its obligations under the GSP program.

The report contains country profiles for 144 countries/territories designated as GSP/trade preference beneficiaries. The profiles contain child labor statistics, major steps or remaining problems, descriptions of government efforts to address problems, information on relevant laws and ratification of international instruments. A set of suggested actions are provided to help reduce the worst forms of child labor in four general areas: laws and regulations, coordination and enforcement, policy, and programs.

Sample entries for some of the 144 listed countries include:

Child Labor in India Persists, Lacks a Minimum Working Age

The Indian government has National Child Labor Projects and a “Convergence Model” strategy which integrates a range of social protection schemes to help prevent and withdraw children from hazardous child labor. However, child labor persists, particularly in agriculture and domestic service, gemstone cutting, quarrying, and at brick kilns and rice mills. Children also work under forced conditions producing hybrid seeds, garments, and embroidered textiles. India lacks a minimum age for work and sets a low age for hazardous work, hindering efforts to address the problem.

Russia Lacks National Action Against Child Labor, Street Children in Illegal Work

The Russian government implemented a national fund that provides social welfare assistance to the country’s significant population of homeless and orphaned children who are involved in repairing cars, carrying heavy loads, and collecting trash (which may contain toxic or injurious materials), prostitution, pornography, and selling drugs or stolen goods. The Government has not designated an agency or other body to coordinate national action and policy to combat the worst forms of child labor.

National Policy Launched in Thailand, Child Labor in Seafood, Ag, Etc. Continues

The Government of Thailand launched its National Policy and Plan to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor and has undertaken wide-ranging activities to implement its Anti-Trafficking law. However, hazardous child labor continues to exist in agriculture and seafood processing, particularly for migrant children. Resource constraints and some legal gaps remain as impediments to government efforts.

Indonesia Established Policy but Ag, Textile, Coffee Sectors, Etc. Still Problem

The Indonesian government has established a policy and legislative framework to combat child labor; however, children continue to engage in the worst forms of child labor in agriculture, domestic servitude, the production and manufacture of goods such as footwear, food, and woodwork, production of cigarettes, cloves, cacao, coconuts, coffee, furniture, kapok (silk cotton tree), stones, sugarcane, tea, and textiles. Additionally, there are gaps in the legal protections for child domestic workers.

New Constitution in Dominican Republic, Child Labor in Sugarcane, Rice, Etc.

The Dominican Republic’s new Constitution bolsters protections against slavery, servitude, and trafficking. However, many children continue to engage in exploitive labor, particularly in the production of coffee, rice, sugarcane, tomatoes, potatoes, and in domestic service. Undocumented children of Haitian descent are commonly found in the worst forms of child labor. Gaps in enforcement of child labor laws and insufficient social protection programs hinder efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.