TREATIES AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL ACTS SERIES 13045 

________________________________________________________________________ 

LABOR 

 Convention Between the 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

and OTHER GOVERNMENTS 

Adopted at Geneva June 17, 1999 
 

NOTE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

 Pursuant to Public Law 89—497, approved July 8, 1966 

(80 Stat. 271; 1 U.S.C. 113)—

“. . .the Treaties and Other International Acts Series issued 

under the authority of the Secretary of State shall be competent 

 evidence . . . of the treaties, international agreements other than 

treaties, and proclamations by the President of such treaties and 

international agreements other than treaties, as the case may be, 

therein contained, in all the courts of law and equity and of maritime 

jurisdiction, and in all the tribunals and public offices of the 

United States, and of the several States, without any further proof 

or authentication thereof.” 
 

 MULTILATERAL 

 Labor 

Convention adopted at the 87th session of the General Conference 

 of the International Labor Organization, Geneva, June 17, 1999; 

Transmitted by the President of the United States of America 

 to the Senate August 5, 1999 (Treaty Doc. 106-5, 

 106th Congress, 1st Session); 

Reported favorably by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 

 November 3, 1999 (Senate Executive Report No. 106-12, 

 106th Congress, 1st Session); 

Advice and consent to ratification by the Senate 

 November 5, 1999; 

Ratified by the President December 2, 1999; 

Instrument of Ratification deposited December 2, 1999; 

Entered into force December 2, 2000. 
International Labour Conference

Conference internationale du Travail

CONVENTION 182

CONVENTION CONCERNING THE PROHIBITION

AND IMMEDIATE ACTION FOR THE ELIMINATION

OF THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOUR

ADOPTED BY THE CONFERENCE AT

ITS EIGHTY-SEVENTH SESSION,

GENEVA, 17 JUNE 1999

CONVENTION 182

CONVENTION CONCERNANT L'INTERDICTION

DES PIRES FORMES DE TRAVAIL DES ENFANTS

ET L'ACTION IMMEDIATE EN VUE DE LEUR ELIMINATION

ADOPTEE PAR LA CONFERENCE

A SA QUATRE-VINGT-SEPTIEME SESSION,

GENEVE, 17 JUIN 1999

AUTHENTIC TEXT

TEXTE AUTHENTIQUE
Convention 182

CONVENTION CONCERNING THE PROHIBITION

AND IMMEDIATE ACTION FOR THE ELIMINATION OF

THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOUR

The General Conference of the International Labour Organization,

Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International

Labour Office, and having met in its 87th Session on 1 June 1999, and

Considering the need to adopt new instruments for the prohibition and

elimination of the worst forms of child labour, as the main priority for

national and international action, including international cooperation and

assistance, to complement the Convention and the Recommendation

concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, 1973, which

remain fundamental instruments on child labour, and

Considering that the effective elimination of the worst forms of child labour

requires immediate and comprehensive action, taking into account the

importance of free basic education and the need to remove the children

concerned from all such work and to provide for their rehabilitation and

social integration while addressing the needs of their families, and

Recalling the resolution concerning the elimination of child labour adopted by

the International Labour Conference at its 83rd Session in 1996, and

Recognizing that child labour is to a great extent caused by poverty and that the

long-term solution lies in sustained economic growth leading to social

progress, in particular poverty alleviation and universal education, and

Recalling the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the

United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989, and

Recalling the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work

and its Follow-up, adopted by the International Labour Conference at its

86th Session in 1998, and

Recalling that some of the worst forms of child labour are covered by other

international instruments, in particular the Forced Labour Convention,

1930, and the United Nations Supplementary Convention on the Abolition

of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to

Slavery, 1956, and

Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to child

labour, which is the fourth item on the agenda of the session, and

Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international

Convention;

adopts this seventeenth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and

ninety-nine the following Convention, which may be cited as the Worst Forms of

Child Labour Convention, 1999.

Article 1

Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall take immediate and effective

measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour

as a matter of urgency.
Article 2

For the purposes of this Convention, the term "child" shall apply to all persons

under the age of 18.

Article 3

For the purposes of this Convention, the term "the worst forms of child labour"

comprises:

(a) all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and

trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory

labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in

armed conflict;

(b) the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of

pornography or for pornographic performances;

(c) the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the

production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international

treaties;

(d) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is

likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.

Article 4

1. The types of work referred to under Article 3(d) shall be determined by

national laws or regulations or by the competent authority, after consultation with the

organizations of employers and workers concerned, taking into consideration relevant

international standards, in particular Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Worst Forms of Child

Labour Recommendation, 1999.

2. The competent authority, after consultation with the organizations of

employers and workers concerned, shall identify where the types of work so

determined exist.

3. The list of the types of work determined under paragraph 1 of this Article

shall be periodically examined and revised as necessary, in consultation with the

organizations of employers and workers concerned.

Article 5

Each Member shall, after consultation with employers' and workers'

organizations, establish or designate appropriate mechanisms to monitor the

implementation of the provisions giving effect to this Convention.

Article 6

1. Each Member shall design and implement programmes of action to

eliminate as a priority the worst forms of child labour.

2. Such programmes of action shall be designed and implemented in

consultation with relevant government institutions and employers' and workers'

organizations, taking into consideration the views of other concerned groups as

appropriate.

Article 7

1. Each Member shall take all necessary measures to ensure the effective

implementation and enforcement of the provisions giving effect to this Convention

including the provision and application of penal sanctions or, as appropriate, other

sanctions.

2. Each Member shall, taking into account the importance of education in

eliminating child labour, take effective and time-bound measures to:

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(a) prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour;

(b) provide the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for the removal of

children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and

social integration;

(c) ensure access to free basic education, and, wherever possible and appropriate,

vocational training, for all children removed from the worst forms of child

labour;

(d) identify and reach out to children at special risk; and

(e) take account of the special situation of girls.

3. Each Member shall designate the competent authority responsible for the

implementation of the provisions giving effect to this Convention.

Article 8

Members shall take appropriate steps to assist one another in giving effect to

the provisions of this Convention through enhanced international cooperation and/or

assistance including support for social and economic development, poverty

eradication programmes and universal education.

Article 9

The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the

Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration.

Article 10

1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members of the

International Labour Organization whose ratifications have been registered with the

Director-General of the International Labour Office.

2. It shall come into force 12 months after the date on which the ratifications

of two Members have been registered with the Director-General.

3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member

12 months after the date on which its ratification has been registered.

Article 11

1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the

expiration of ten years from the date on which the Convention first comes into force,

by an act communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office

for registration. Such denunciation shall not take effect until one year after the date

on which it is registered.

2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which does not,

within the year following the expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the

preceding paragraph, exercise the right of denunciation provided for in this Article,

will be bound for another period of ten years and, thereafter, may denounce this

Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years under the terms provided for

in this Article.

Article 12

1. The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall notify all

Members of the International Labour Organization of the registration of

all ratifications and acts of denunciation communicated by the Members of

the Organization.

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2. When notifying the Members of the Organization of the registration of the

second ratification, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members of

the Organization to the date upon which the Convention shall come into force.

Article 13

The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall communicate to

the Secretary-General of the United Nations, for registration in accordance with

article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, full particulars of all ratifications and

acts of denunciation registered by the Director-General in accordance with the

provisions of the preceding Articles.

Article 14

At such times as it may consider necessary, the Governing Body of the

International Labour Office shall present to the General Conference a report on the

working of this Convention and shall examine the desirability of placing on the

agenda of the Conference the question of its revision in whole or in part.

Article 15

1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising this Convention

in whole or in part, then, unless the new Convention otherwise provides —

(a) the ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure

involve the immediate denunciation of this Convention, notwithstanding the

provisions of Article 11 above, if and when the new revising Convention shall

have come into force;

(b) as from the date when the new revising Convention comes into force, this

Convention shall cease to be open to ratification by the Members.

2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its actual form and

content for those Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising

Convention.

Article 16

The English and French versions of the text of this Convention are equally

authoritative.

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The foregoing is the authentic text of the Convention unanimously adopted by

the General Conference of the International Labour Organization during its

Eighty-seventh Session which was held at Geneva and declared closed on

17 June 1999.

IN FAITH WHEREOF we have appended our signatures this eighteenth day

of June 1999.

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The text of the Convention as here presented is a

true copy of the text authenticated by the signatures of

the President of the International Labour Conference

and of the Director-General of the International

Labour Office.

Le texte de la convention presente ici est une copie

exacte du texte authentique par les signatures du

President de la Conference internationale du Travail et

du Directeur general du Bureau international du

Travail.

Certified true and complete copy,

Copie certifiée conforme et complete,

For the Director-General of the International Labour Office:

Pour le Directeur general du Bureau international du Travail:

Anthony G. Freeman

Director

International Labor Office

Washington Branch