Sunday, 13 September 2009

US Releases List of Child or Forced Labor Products

Written by Administrator -- Saturday, 12 September 2009

The US Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) released three reports on child labor and/or forced labor in countries around the globe on September 10. The documents include the initial “List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor” required by the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (TVPRA List), according to a Friday press release of US Embassy in Cambodia.

“The TVPRA List provides details on 122 goods from 58 countries that ILAB has reason to believe are produced by forced labor, child labor or both in violation of international standards,” said the press release. The ILAB has also released a proposed update to the “List of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor” (EO List) and its 8th annual “Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor” as mandated by the Trade and Develo-pment Act of 2000 on the efforts of 141 countries and territories to combat exploitive child labor.
“The primary purpose of the TVPRA List is to raise public awareness about the incidence of child labor and forced labor in the production of goods in the countries listed and to promote efforts to eliminate such practices,” the press release claimed. “The report lists four items in Cambodia which are suspected of being produced through the use of child labor including bricks, shrimp, rubber and salt. The US is actively engaged with the Cambodian Government in an effort to reduce the use of child labor in these sectors and throughout the economy.”

According to the press release, the Cambodian Government has made progress in this area, including by the development of a National Plan of Action (NPA) on the Worst Forms of Child Labor (2008-2012). The NPA aims to reduce the number of children aged 5-17 working in Cambodia to 10.6 percent in 2010 and 8 percent by 2015.

It has also participated in a number of US-led programs designed to end the worst forms of child labor in the sectors mentioned in the report issued by the Department of Labor.

The US hopes that continued cooperation in this area will eventually end the use of child labor in Cambodia and to a decrease in all forms of human trafficking and exploitation.

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