[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 147 (Tuesday, July 31, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36969-36971]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-16288]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Notice of Initial Determination To Remove Cotton From Uzbekistan
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 initial determination; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This initial determination proposes to revise the list
required by Executive Order No. 13126 (``Prohibition of Acquisition of
Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor'') (E.O. List) in
accordance with the Department of Labor's (DOL) ``Procedural Guidelines
for the Maintenance of the List of Products Requiring Federal
Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured Child Labor'' (the
Procedural Guidelines).\1\ The E.O. List identifies a list of products,
by their country of origin, that DOL, in consultation and cooperation
with the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security
(hereinafter ``the three Departments''), has a reasonable basis to
believe might have been mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or
indentured child labor. This notice proposes to remove cotton from
Uzbekistan because the three Departments have preliminarily determined
that the use of forced or indentured child labor in the production of
that product has been significantly reduced. The Department of Labor
invites public comment on this initial determination. The three
Departments will consider all public comments prior to publishing a
final determination revising the E.O. List.
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\1\ 66 FR 5351 (Jan. 18, 2001).
DATES: Comments should be submitted to the Office of Child Labor,
Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT) via one of the methods
described below and must be received by no later than 5 p.m. ET, August
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30, 2018, to guarantee consideration.
ADDRESSES: Information submitted to the Department of Labor should be
submitted directly to OCFT, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S.
Department of Labor. Comments, identified as ``Docket No. DOL-2018-
0004,'' may be submitted by any of the following methods:
1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: You may submit electronic comments
to: http://www.regulations.gov. The portal includes instructions for
submitting comments. Parties submitting responses electronically are
encouraged not to submit paper copies.
2. Facsimile (fax): OCFT, at 202-693-4830.
3. Mail, Express Delivery, Hand Delivery, and Messenger Service (2
copies): Rachel Rigby/Austin Pedersen, U.S. Department of Labor, OCFT,
Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room
S-5313, Washington, DC 20210.
4. Email: Email submissions should be addressed to:
[email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, Office of Child Labor,
Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, at (202) 693-4843 (this is not a
toll free number). 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.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Information Sought
The Department of Labor is requesting public comment on the
revisions to the list proposed below, as well as any other issue
related to the fair and effective implementation of E.O. 13126. This
notice is a general solicitation of comments from the public. All
submitted comments will be made a part of the public record and will be
available for inspection on http://www.regulations.gov.
In conducting research for this initial determination, the three
Departments considered a wide variety of materials based on their own
research, and which originates from other U.S. Government agencies,
foreign governments, international organizations, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), U.S. Government-funded technical assistance and
field research projects, academic and other independent research,
media, and other sources. The Department of State and U.S. embassies
[[Page 36970]]
and consulates abroad also provided important information by gathering
data from contacts, conducting site visits, and reviewing local media
sources. In developing the proposed revision to the E.O. List, the
three Departments' review focused on information concerning the use of
forced or indentured child labor that was available from the above
sources.
As outlined in the Procedural Guidelines, several factors were
weighed in determining whether a product should be placed, or remain
on, the revised E.O. List: 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; whether the information involved
more than an isolated incident; and whether recent and credible efforts
are being made to address forced or indentured child labor in a
particular country and industry (66 FR 5351).
This notice constitutes an initial determination to revise the list
issued December 1, 2014. Based on available information from various
sources, the three Departments have preliminarily concluded that there
is no longer a reasonable basis to believe that there is use of forced
or indentured child labor in the production of the following product,
identified by its country of origin:
Product: Cotton
Country: Uzbekistan
The Department of Labor has received recent, credible, and
corroborated information from various sources on the use of forced or
indentured child labor in cotton production in Uzbekistan. This
information indicates that while children previously worked under
forced labor conditions in cotton production, the use of forced child
labor appears to have been significantly reduced. Therefore, the three
Departments have preliminarily concluded that there is no longer a
reasonable basis to believe that cotton from Uzbekistan is produced by
forced or indentured child labor, except in a few isolated instances,
and therefore it should not continue to be on the list.
DOL placed cotton from Uzbekistan on the List in 2010, based on 14
sources dating from 2002 to 2008. Sources indicated that school
administrators, at the direction of central and local governments,
systematically mobilized children as young as 7 years old for
participation in the annual cotton harvest.\2\ In 2013, the Government
of Uzbekistan committed to working with the International Labor
Organization (ILO) to address forced child labor. Over time, three
forms of harvest monitoring were established: ILO-implemented Third
Party Monitoring (TPM), Uzbekistan's own national monitoring led by the
Coordination Council, and independent monitoring conducted by human
rights activists, many of whom coordinate their reporting through the
Uzbek German Forum. In 2017, ILO monitoring, Uzbekistan's national
monitoring, and observation by independent human rights activists each
found that forced child labor had been reduced to a few incidents in
the cotton harvest, and only 32 additional children were found to be
engaged in child labor, though not all in forced labor conditions, in
the cotton harvest.\3\ Both the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent's observation
during the 2017 harvest, as well as DOL's review of available
information, corroborated that forced child labor in the production of
cotton had been significantly reduced to isolated incidents.\4\
Further, the Government of Uzbekistan has taken steps to improve the
monitoring environment for independent activists and follow up on all
reports of child labor and forced labor in the cotton harvest,
including those made by independent activists.\5\ However, both the ILO
and independent monitoring found that at least 300,000 adults were
forced to work in the 2017 cotton harvest.\6\
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\2\ ``Environmental Justice Foundation. Child Labor and Cotton
in Uzbekistan.'' available from http://www.ejfoundation.org/page145.html; ``Environmental Justice Foundation. White Gold: The
True Cost of Cotton.'' London, 2005; available from http://www.ejfoundation.org/pdf/white_gold_the_true_cost_of_cotton.pdf;
U.S. Department of State. ``Uzbekistan. '' In Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices 2007, March 11, 2008; available from http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100623.htm; U.S. Embassy
Tashkent. reporting. June 6, 2008.
\3\ ILO. ``Third-Party Monitoring of Measures Against Child
Labor and Forced Labor During the 2017 Cotton Harvest in
Uzbekistan.'' February 1, 2018. http://www.ilo.org/ipec/Informationresources/WCMS_543130/lang-en/index.htm; Government of
Uzbekistan. Response to TDA Questionnaire; January 25, 2017; Uzbek
German Forum for Human Rights. Cotton Harvest 2017: Summary of Key
Findings. March 2018. On file.
\4\ U.S. Embassy--Tashkent. Reporting. January 9, 2018; Uzbek
German Forum for Human Rights, 2018; ILO, 2018.
\5\ U.S. Embassy--Tashkent, 2018.
\6\ ILO, 2018; Uzbek German Forum for Human Rights, 2018.
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The Department of Labor invites public comment on whether this
product (and/or other products, regardless of whether they are
mentioned in this notice) should be included in or removed from the
revised E.O. List. To the extent possible, comments provided should
address the criteria for inclusion of a product on the E.O. List
contained in the Procedural Guidelines discussed above.
Following receipt and consideration of comments on the removal from
the E.O. List set out above, the three Departments will issue a final
determination in the Federal Register. The three Departments intend to
continue to revise the E.O. List periodically to add and/or remove
products as warranted by the receipt of new and credible information.
II. Background
E.O. 13126 was signed on June 12, 1999, and published in the
Federal Register on June 16, 1999.\7\ 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 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 performed
by any person under the age of 18 pursuant to a contract the
enforcement of which can be accomplished by process or penalties.
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\7\ 64 FR 32383.
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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 the Department, in consultation and
cooperation with the Departments of State and 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.\8\ The Department
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.\9\
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\8\ 66 FR 5353.
\9\ 66 FR 5351.
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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
[[Page 36971]]
Register a notice of initial determination, which includes any proposed
alteration to the E.O. List. The three 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.\10\
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\10\ See 48 CFR subpart 22.15.
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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, and 2014. The most recent E.O. List,
finalized on December 1, 2014, includes 35 products from 26 countries.
The current E.O. List and the Procedural Guidelines can be accessed
at http://www.dol.gov/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, this 24 day of July 2018.
Martha E. Newton,
Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2018-16288 Filed 7-30-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-28-P