Federal Register, Volume 65 Issue 173 (Wednesday, September 6, 2000)

[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 173 (Wednesday, September 6, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54108-54112]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-22773]

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 173 / Wednesday, September 6, 2000 /
Notices

[[Page 54108]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary

Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Notice of Preliminary List
of Products Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or
Indentured Child Labor Under Executive Order No. 13126; Request for
Comments

SUMMARY: As required by Executive Order No. 13126 (``Prohibition of
Acquisition of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child
Labor''), this notice sets forth a list of products, by country of
origin, which the Department of Labor, the Department of State, and the
Department of the Treasury preliminarily believe may have been mined,
produced, or manufactured by forced or indentured child labor. Under a
proposed rule by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council published
in today's issue of the Federal Register, which also implements
Executive Order No. 13126, federal contractors who supply products on
the list would be 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 produce the item. The Department of Labor
invites public comment on the preliminary list set forth in this
notice. The Department will publish a final list of products on or
before the date on which corresponding proposed changes in the Federal
Acquisition Regulation (FAR) become final. The Department intends to
update the final list of products periodically, through a public
notice-and-comment process, which will be described when the final list
is published.

DATES: Interested parties must submit written comments by November 6,
2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to the International
Child Labor Program, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Room S-
5303, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20210; fax: (202) 219-4923. All written comments
submitted will be made part of the record of review and will be
available for public inspection.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ami Thakkar, International Child Labor
Program, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Room S-5303, U.S.
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210;
telephone: (202) 208-4843; fax: (202) 219-4923.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Executive Order No. 13126, which was
published in the Federal Register on June 16, 1999 (64 FR 32383-32385),
requires the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (the Civilian
Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations
Council) to issue proposed rules to amend the Federal Acquisition
Regulation (FAR), with respect to the procurement by federal agencies
of products that may have been mined, produced, or manufactured with
forced or indentured child labor. Certain procurement-related
requirements are to apply to products that appear on a list to be
published by the Department of Labor. The list is not intended to
prohibit the importation of listed products into the United States or
to prohibit federal agencies from acquiring such products, assuming
that certain conditions are satisfied.
Section 2 of the Executive Order requires the Department of Labor,
in consultation and cooperation with the Department of the Treasury and
the Department of State, to ``publish in the Federal Register a list of
products, identified by their country of origin, that those Departments
have a reasonable basis to believe might have been mined, produced, or
manufactured by forced or indentured child labor.''
Under Section 3 of the Executive Order, the Federal Acquisition
Regulatory Council is required to issue proposed rules to implement the
policy expressed in the Executive Order. The proposed rules are to
require provisions for procurement contracts for products included on
the list published by the Department of Labor. They include a provision
requiring the contractor to certify that it 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 not
aware of any such use of forced or indentured child labor. Full
compliance with this certification requirement, and related
certification requirements, would permit a contractor to supply a
listed product to a federal agency. Elsewhere in this issue, the Civil
Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations
Council issue the proposed rule required by the Executive Order and
invited public comment.
The Executive Order authorized the Department of Labor to conduct
hearings to assist in the identification of products to be included on
the list required by the Executive Order. Following publication of a
notice in the Federal Register on July 8, 1999 (64 FR 36922-36923), the
Department of Labor held a public hearing on August 10, 1999. The
following witnesses provided oral and written testimony at the hearing:
Gina Amatangelo (Amnesty International), Pharis Harvey (International
Labor Rights Fund), Martin Dusel (American Coke and Coal Chemicals
Institute), and Dorianne Beyer (National Child Labor Committee and
Council on Economic Priorities Accreditation Agency). In addition,
written submissions were received from: All Pakistan Federation of
Trade Unions, American Apparel Manufacturers Association, American Coke
and Coal Chemicals Institute, Amnesty International, Bangladesh Rural
Advancement Committee (BRAC), Burlingtons, LTD (Bangladesh), Care &
Fair--Carpet Trade Against Child Labor (Germany), Child Care Foundation
(Pakistan), Council for Leather Exporters (India), Embassy of the
People's Republic of Bangladesh, Embassy of Egypt, Embassy of India,
Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, Hard to Reach Children
(Bangladesh), Human Rights Watch, Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and
Exporters Association, Republic of Yemen--General Federation of Workers
Trade Unions, and Rugmark Foundation (India).
As explained below, the Department of Labor, in consultation and
cooperation with the Department of State and the Department of the
Treasury, has developed a preliminary list of products, in accordance
with Section 2 of the Executive Order. The Department invites public
comment on the preliminary list, the inclusion of certain products on
the list, the exclusion of other products from the list, and any other
issue related to the fair and effective implementation of this aspect
of the Executive Order. A final list will be published on or before the
date on which the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council issues a final
rule to implement Executive Order No. 13126.
The Department's prior hearing notice explained that among the
products and countries that the Department might examine for purposes
of issuing the list of products required by Executive Order No. 13126
were those mentioned in the following Department of Labor reports on
child labor: By the Sweat and Toil of Children (Volume 1): The Use of
Child Labor in U.S. Manufactured and Mined Imports, and By the Sweat
and Toil of Children (Volume 2): The Use of Child Labor in U.S.
Agricultural Imports and Forced and Bonded Child Labor. The reports can
be accessed on the Internet at http:www.dol.gov/dol/ilab/public/media/reports/childnew.htm or can be obtained from the International Child
Labor Program.
The Department of Labor has considered the products and countries
mentioned in its child labor reports. It

[[Page 54109]]

has also considered the testimony, written submissions, and other
information presented to the Department in connection with its August
10, 1999 hearing. In addition, the Department has reviewed a number of
studies and reports by organizations that have researched the use of
child labor. (See Appendix A for a bibliography of documents with
reference to the products on the preliminary list.) The Department has
consulted and cooperated with the Department of State and the
Department of the Treasury.
In developing the preliminary list of products, the review focused
on available information concerning the use of forced or indentured
child labor. The lack of available information does not, by itself,
establish that, in any particular country, or for any particular
product, forced or indentured child labor is not being used. Government
resources for acquiring information are limited. In addition,
information about actual working conditions in some countries is
difficult or impossible to obtain, for a variety of reasons. For
example, governments may be unable or unwilling to cooperate with
international efforts, or the efforts of non-governmental
organizations, to uncover and address abuses. Institutions or
organizations that might uncover such information, such as free and
independent news media, trade unions, and non-governmental
organizations may not exist. In short, the list of products should not
be taken as presenting a comprehensive picture of the use of forced or
indentured child labor around the world.
In general, the three Departments considered and weighed several
factors: the nature of the information describing the use of forced or
indentured child labor; the source of the information; the date of the
information; the extent of corroboration of the information by
appropriate sources; and whether the information involved more than an
isolated incident.
In addition, the Departments also took into account whether recent,
credible efforts are being made to address forced or indentured child
labor in a particular country and industry. For example, the
Departments took into consideration specific commitments to implement
new and/or on-going projects aimed at eliminating forced and indentured
child labor. Key elements of such projects include: removing children
from work and providing them and their younger siblings with
educational opportunities; establishing an independent workplace
monitoring system; providing families of the removed children with
income generating alternatives; raising public awareness; and
developing an overall strategy for sustainability. The Department of
Labor will assess the progress of such efforts during its periodic
review of the list.
The Departments have applied, and will continue to apply, the
definition of ``forced or indentured child labor'' contained in the
Executive Order, which is consistent with the Tariff Act of 1930, 19
U.S.C. 1307. Section 6 (c) of the Executive Order defines ``forced or
indentured child labor'' as:

. . . all 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.''

The two aspects of the definition represent alternatives which are
not mutually exclusive.
During the August 10, 1999 Labor Department hearing, one witness
suggested that the definition of forced or indentured child labor in
the Executive Order would encompass: (a) All work by children who are
legally incapable of consenting to an employment agreement; (b) all
full-time work that harms the health or well-being of children; and (c)
all work in violation of a country's child labor laws. Although these
abusive practices cannot be condoned, they do not necessarily meet the
definition of ``forced or indentured child labor.'' The essential
elements of the definition are either the presence of coercion or the
existence of a contract enforceable by penalties. Information suggests
that these elements are satisfied with respect to the products
preliminarily included on the list below.
In evaluating working conditions for the possibility of coercion,
the three Departments have considered and weighed factors that, in some
combination, suggest that a child may be working under threat and may
not be employed voluntarily. Those factors are: that children are
confined, that they receive little or no pay, that they are deprived of
basic needs, that they work long or unusual hours, that they are
engaged in hazardous work that puts them at risk of serious injury or
death, that they are physically or sexually abused at work, and that
they are not able to attend school because of work. Where all or many
of these factors are present, it may be reasonable to infer that a
child is working because he or she is being forced to do so,
particularly where there is also information about physical punishment
or threats of punishment.
Based on recent, credible, and appropriately corroborated
information from various sources, the Department of Labor, the
Department of State, and the Department of the Treasury have
preliminarily concluded that there is a reasonable basis to believe
that the following products, identified by their country of origin,
might have been mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or
indentured child labor:

Bamboo.................................... (Burma)
Beans (including yellow, soya, and green (Burma)
beans).
Bricks (hand-made)........................ (Burma, Pakistan)
Chilies................................... (Burma)
Corn...................................... (Burma)
Pineapples................................ (Burma)
Rice...................................... (Burma)
Rubber.................................... (Burma)
Shrimp (aquaculture)...................... (Burma)
Sugarcane................................. (Burma)
Teak...................................... (Burma)

The Department of Labor invites public comment on whether these
products (and/or other products, regardless of whether they are
mentioned in this Notice) should be included on the final list of
products requiring federal contractor certification as to the use of
forced or indentured child labor, which will be published on or before
the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council issues a final rule to
implement Executive Order No. 13126. The Department is also interested
in public comments relating to whether products on the preliminary list
are designated with appropriate specificity and what, if any,
alternative designations would better serve the purposes of the
Executive Order.
The preliminary basis for including each product on the list is
summarized below, by country of origin:

Burma

A July 1998 International Labor Organization (ILO) Commission of
Inquiry Report found the use of forced labor (including forced child
labor) by the military to be extensive in Burma. Forced labor was
reportedly used to grow beans (including yellow, soya, and green
beans), chilies, corn, pineapples, rice, and sugarcane; to produce
hand-made bricks; to cultivate shrimp; and to log and cut bamboo and
teak wood for commercial sale by the military. The ILO Report notes
that adults and children are not paid for their work and the military
perpetrates severe physical and sexual abuses on many forced laborers.
These workers are often forced to relocate and are deprived of basic
necessities, such as water, food, shelter,

[[Page 54110]]

rest, and access to medical care. According to the mentioned ILO
Report, the Government of Burma is not making efforts to end this
endemic abuse. The ILO Report was based on a year-long inquiry and
cited a vast amount of documentary material, including oral testimony
from many individuals and organizations.

Pakistan

Bricks (hand-made): Organizations including Anti-Slavery
International (1991), Human Rights Watch/Asia (1995), the Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan (1996, 1997), the ILO (1996), the All Pakistan
Federation of Labour (1998), and researcher Kevin Bales (1999) have
reported on the use of forced or indentured child labor in the brick
industry of Pakistan. Children reportedly are bonded and sometimes
taken hostage to force their families to stay in the brick kilns.
Children work long hours under hazardous conditions and are not paid
for their labor.

Additional discussion

While noting continuing allegations of forced and indentured child
labor in the carpet industry in South Asia, the three Departments also
recognize the impressive efforts taken by governments, industry, and
international organizations to eliminate the practice from the carpet
industry and provide ex-working children with an education. These
efforts are among the earliest in this area and have the potential to
significantly reduce the incidence of forced or indentured child labor.
The United States Government strongly supports these programs.
The promising actions taken in the carpet industries in South Asia
may provide a useful model for other countries and industries in the
future. The Department of Labor invites comment on the measures taken
in the region to eliminate forced and indentured child labor in the
carpet sector, including labeling and monitoring initiatives which are
currently in place. Specifically, the Department seeks public comment
on the sufficiency of these existing initiatives and on whether a
certification or label from a credible monitoring program could
adequately serve the purposes of the Executive Order.
The three Departments considered numerous products where, based on
the information currently available, and the applicable criteria,
inclusion of these products on the preliminary list did not appear
warranted. As noted above, the preliminary list of products may not
present a comprehensive picture of the products mined, produced or
manufactured with forced or indentured child labor around the world.
Certain products were considered but are not included in this Notice
because of insufficient recent, credible, and appropriately
corroborated information that links the use of forced or indentured
child labor to specific products. For example, in some cases, the
available information was dated, or more recent reports simply repeated
and cited old reports without updated, corroborating information; in
other cases, general allegations about the problem of forced or
indentured child labor in a region or industry were difficult to link
to specific products. Because in many instances insufficient
information was available to justify the inclusion of a product on the
preliminary list, despite some suggestion of the use of forced or
indentured child labor, submission of relevant information with regard
to any product and working conditions of children is invited. In
particular, the Department of Labor urges that comments provide, to the
extent possible, information that is recent, specific, and where
possible corroborated.
The Department of Labor specifically asks for information about
whether there is forced or indentured child labor in the production of
cotton and sugarcane in Pakistan. Human Rights Watch/Asia (1994), Anti-
Slavery International (1998), and the media have reported use of
indentured labor in the Sindh province of Pakistan in agriculture
including the use of indentured child labor. (Sources: International
Child Labor Hearings, U.S. Department of Labor, Statement of Human
Rights Watch/Asia, April 12, 1994, 54-56; ``Child Bonded Labour in
Pakistan,'' Urgent Action Campaign, London: Anti-Slavery International,
April 1998, 2; ``Pakistan Slave Labor Cited,'' The New York Times,
January 8, 1999; ``Serfs Cast off Chains in Pakistan,'' The Los Angeles
Times, August 20, 1999.) However, the information that tied such labor
to the production of sugar cane and cotton was not sufficient. In order
to make the appropriate findings, the Department of Labor specifically
requests submission of recent, credible information concerning whether
bonded or indentured child labor is employed in the production of these
particular agricultural products or others.
As explained, following receipt and consideration of comments on
the preliminary list set out above, the Department of Labor, in
consultation and cooperation with the Department of State and the
Department of the Treasury, will issue a final list of products. The
Department of Labor intends to revise the list periodically, to add
and/or delete products, as justified by new information. Such new
information could include concrete steps, including planned programs
and/or on-going projects, that a country has taken toward eliminating
forced and indentured child labor. The Department expects to follow a
public notice and comment process to revise the list. That process will
be described when a final list is published.

Signed at Washington, D.C., this 31st day of August, 2000.
Andrew J. Samet,
Deputy Under Secretary for International Labor Affairs.

Appendix A--Bibliography for Products Mentioned in this Notice

Bamboo (Burma):

Forced labour in Myanmar (Burma), Report of the Commission of
Inquiry appointed under article 26 of the Constitution of the
International Labor Organization to examine the observance by
Myanmar of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), Part III,
``Allegations by the parties and historical background of the
case,'' and Part IV, ``Work on agriculture, logging, and other
production projects,'' Geneva, July 2, 1998.
Electronic correspondence from Kevin Heppner, Karen Human Rights
Group to U.S. Department of Labor official, September 25, 1999.

(Additional Sources)

The Kayin (Karen) State: Militarization and Human Rights
(Amnesty International, June 1999).
Aftermath: Three Years of Dislocation in the Kayah State
(Amnesty International, June 1999).
Update on the Shan State. (Amnesty International, June 1999).
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of human
rights in Myanmar, U.N. Economic and Social Council, E/CN.4/1999/35,
January 22, 1999.
Report of the Director-General to the members of the Governing
Body on Measures taken by the Government of Myanmar following the
recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry established to examine
its observance of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29),
(Geneva: ILO, May 21, 1999).

Beans--including yellow, soya, and green beans (Burma):

[[Page 54111]]

Electronic correspondence from Kevin Heppner, Karen Human Rights
Group to U.S. Department of Labor official, September 25, 1999.

(Additional Sources)

Bricks--hand-made (Burma):

(Additional Sources)

Bricks--hand-made (Pakistan)

Children in Bondage: Slaves of the Subcontinent (London: Anti-
slavery International, 1991) 19.
Z. Mahmood, S. Riaz, M.A. Nazeer and M.E. Haq, Child Labour in
Brick Kiln Industries (Lahore: University of Punjab, 1991) cited in
A.R. Kemal, Child Labour in Pakistan (Islamabad: Pakistan Institute
of Development Economics, 1994) 10.
Contemporary Forms of Slavery in Pakistan (New York: Human
Rights Watch/Asia, 1995) 30.
State of Human Rights in Pakistan in 1996 (Lahore: Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan, 1996) 159.
Survey on Child Bondage (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 1996) 24, 27.
State of Human Rights in 1997 (Lahore: Human Rights Commission
of Pakistan, 1997) 22-23, 212-214.
Bonded Brick Kiln Workers--1989 Supreme Court Judgement and
After (Rawalpindi: All Pakistan Federation of Labour, February
1998).
Kevin Bales, Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global
Economy (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999) 149-194.

Chilies (Burma)

(Additional Sources)

Corn (Burma)

(Additional Sources)

Pineapples (Burma)

(Additional Sources)

Rice (Burma)

Forced labour in Myanmar (Burma), Report of the Commission of
Inquiry appointed under article 26 of the Constitution of the
International Labor Organization to examine the observance by
Myanmar of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), Part III,
``Allegations by the parties and historical background of the
case,'' and Part IV, ``Work on agriculture, logging, and other
production projects,'' Geneva, July 2, 1998. Electronic
correspondence from Kevin Heppner, Karen Human Rights Group to U.S.
Department of Labor official, September 25, 1999.

[[Page 54112]]

(Additional Sources)

Rubber (Burma)

(Additional Sources)

Shrimp--aquaculture (Burma)

Martin Smith, Ethnic Groups in Burma: Development, Democracy and
Human Rights (London: Anti-Slavery International, 1994) 86.
Additional Submission from Images Asia, Thailand, Labor
Practices in Arakan State, Burma, to USDOL, September 6, 1999.
Forced labour in Myanmar (Burma), Report of the Commission of
Inquiry appointed under article 26 of the Constitution of the
International Labor Organization to examine the observance by
Myanmar of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), Part III,
``Allegations by the parties and historical background of the
case,'' and Part IV, ``Work on agriculture, logging, and other
production projects,'' Geneva, ILO, July 2, 1998.
Electronic correspondence from Kevin Heppner, Karen Human Rights
Group to U.S. Department of Labor official, September 25, 1999.

(Additional Sources)

Sugarcane (Burma)

(Additional Sources)

Teak (Burma)

(Additional Sources)

The Kayin (Karen) State: Militarization and Human Rights
(Amnesty International, June 1999).
Aftermath: Three Years of Dislocation in the Kayah State
(Amnesty International, June 1999).

Update on the Shan State. (Amnesty International, June 1999).

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of human
rights in Myanmar, U.N. Economic and Social Council, E/CN.4/1999/35,
January 22, 1999.
Report of the Director-General to the members of the Governing
Body on Measures taken by the Government of Myanmar following the
recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry established to examine
its observance of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29),
(Geneva: ILO, May 21, 1999).

[FR Doc. 00-22773 Filed 9-5-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-28-P