Meetings: Child labor, products mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or indentured; information request; hearing,

[Federal Register: July 8, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 130)]

[Notices]

[Page 36922-36923]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr08jy99-104]

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary

Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Notice of Public Hearing

This document is a notice of public hearing to be held by the Department of Labor to gather information regarding products that might have been mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or indentured child labor, for the purpose of implementing Executive Order No. 13126 (``Prohibition of Acquisition of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor''). This Executive Order was published in the Federal Register on June 16, 1999 (64 FR 32383-32385).

The hearing will be held on Tuesday, August 10, 1999, in Room N- 3437 at the Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, beginning at 9:00 a.m. The hearing will be open to the public. This notice is a general solicitation of comments from the public.

The Department of Labor is now accepting requests from all interested parties to provide oral or written testimony at the hearing. Each presentation will be limited to ten minutes. The Department is not able to provide financial assistance to those preparing written submissions. The Department is not able to provide financial assistance to those wishing to travel to attend the hearing. Those unable to attend the hearing are invited to submit written testimony. Parties interested in testifying at the child labor hearing should call Cortney Oren of the International Child Labor Program, (202) 208-4843 ext. 112, to be put on the roster.

Pursuant to Section 2 of Executive Order No. 13126, and in consultation and cooperation with the Department of the Treasury and the Department of State, the Department of Labor is now taking steps to enable it 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.'' In compliance with the Executive Order, such a list will be published within 120 days of the date of publishing of the Executive Order or no later than October 10, 1999.

The Executive Order provides that ``[t]he Department of Labor may conduct hearings to assist in the identification of'' products to be included on the list required by the Executive Order. Information provided at the hearing will be considered by the Department of Labor in preparing the list.

Testimony at the hearing should be relevant to the topic of products ``mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part by forced or indentured child labor.'' With respect to industries where forced or indentured child labor may occur, but where programs have been implemented to eliminate child labor, the Department is also seeking testimony regarding the effectiveness of such programs.

Under section 6(c) of the Executive Order, ``forced or indentured child labor'' is defined 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.

This definition is consistent with the Tariff Act of 1930, 19 U.S.C. 1307.

Among the products and countries that may be examined by the Department are those mentioned in the following Department of Labor reports on child labor: By the Sweat and Toil of Children (Volume I): The Use of Child Labor in U.S. Manufactured and Mined Imports, and By the Sweat and Toil of Children (Volume II): The Use of Child Labor in U.S. Agricultural Imports and Forced and Bonded Child Labor. These reports can be accessed on the

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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 will examine other recent developments, including additional products and countries where forced and indentured child labor has been identified as a problem.

DATES: The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, August 10, 1999. The deadline for being placed on the roster for oral testimony is 5 p.m. on August 3, 1999. Presenters will be required to submit five (5) written copies of their oral testimony to the International Child Labor Program by 5 p.m., August 3, 1999. The record will be kept open for additional written testimony until 5 p.m., August 17, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Written testimony should be addressed 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cortney Oren, 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. Persons with disabilities who need special accommodations should contact Cortney Oren by August 3, 1999.

All written or oral comments submitted pursuant to the public hearing will be made part of the record of review referred to above and will be available for public inspection.

Signed at Washington, DC, this 30th day of June, 1999. Andrew J. Samet, Deputy Under Secretary for International Labor Affairs.

[FR Doc. 99-17239Filed7-7-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510-28-P