73374 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 247 / Thursday, December 27, 2007 / Notices 

Type of Review: Extension of a 

currently approved collection of 

information. 

Agency: Office of the Solicitor. 

Title: Equal Access to Justice Act. 

OMB Number: 1225–0013. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

household; Business or other for-profit; 

Not-for-profit institutions; Federal 

Government; State, Local or Tribal 

Government. 

Number of Respondents: Varies by 

year; usually less than 10. 

Frequency: On occasion. 

Total Responses: See Number of 

Respondents. 

Average Time per Response: 5 hours. 

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 50 

hours. 

Total annualized capital/startup 

costs: $0. 

Total Annualized costs (operation 

and maintenance): $0. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and may 

be included in the request for OMB 

approval of the final information 

collection request. The comments will 

become a matter of public record. 

Signed this 19th day of December, 2007. 

William W. Thompson, II, 

Associate Solicitor for Management and 

Administrative Legal Services. 

[FR Doc. E7–25120 Filed 12–26–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–23–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Office of the Secretary 

Notice of Procedural Guidelines for the 

Development and Maintenance of the 

List of Goods From Countries 

Produced by Child Labor or Forced 

Labor; Request for Information 

AGENCY: Bureau of International Labor 

Affairs, Department of Labor. 

ACTION: Notice of procedural guidelines 

for the development and maintenance of 

a list of goods from countries produced 

by child labor or forced labor in 

violation of international standards; 

Request for information. 

SUMMARY: This notice sets forth final 

procedural guidelines (‘‘Guidelines’’) for 

the development and maintenance of a 

list of goods from countries that the 

Bureau of International Labor Affairs 

(‘‘ILAB’’) has reason to believe are 

produced by child labor or forced labor 

in violation of international standards 

(‘‘List’’). The Guidelines establish the 

process for public submission of 

information, and the evaluation and 

reporting process to be used by the U.S. 

Department of Labor’s (‘‘DOL’’) Office of 

Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human 

Trafficking (‘‘Office’’) in maintaining 

and updating the List. DOL is required 

to develop and make available to the 

public the List pursuant to the 

Trafficking Victims Protection 

Reauthorization Act of 2005. This notice 

also requests information on the use of 

child labor and/or forced labor in the 

production of goods internationally, as 

well as information on government, 

industry, or third-party actions and 

initiatives to address these problems. 

This information will be used by DOL 

as appropriate in developing the initial 

List. 

DATES: This document is effective 

immediately upon publication of this 

notice. Information submitted in 

response to this notice must be received 

by the Office no later than March 26, 

2008. Information received after that 

date may not be taken into 

consideration in developing DOL’s 

initial List, but such information will be 

considered by the Office as the List is 

maintained and updated in the future. 

TO SUBMIT INFORMATION, OR 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). 

Information may be submitted by the 

following methods: 

• Facsimile (fax): ILAB/Office of 

Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human 

Trafficking at 202–693–4830. 

• Mail, Express Delivery, Hand 

Delivery, and Messenger Service: Charita 

Castro or Rachel Rigby at U.S. 

Department of Labor, ILAB/Office of 

Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human 

Trafficking, 200 Constitution Ave., NW., 

Room S–5317, Washington, DC 20210. 

• E-mail: ilab-tvpra@dol.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

105(b)(1) of the Trafficking Victims 

Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 

(‘‘TVPRA of 2005’’), Public Law 109–

164 (2006), directed the Secretary of 

Labor, acting through the Bureau of 

International Labor Affairs, to ‘‘carry out 

additional activities to monitor and 

combat forced labor and child labor in 

foreign countries.’’ Section 105(b)(2) of 

the TVPRA, 22 U.S.C. 7112(b)(2), listed 

these activities as: 

(A) Monitor the use of forced labor 

and child labor in violation of 

international standards; 

(B) Provide information regarding 

trafficking in persons for the purpose of 

forced labor to the Office to Monitor and 

Combat Trafficking of the Department of 

State for inclusion in [the] trafficking in 

persons report required by section 

110(b) of the Trafficking Victims 

Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 

7107(b)); 

(C) Develop and make available to the 

public a list of goods from countries that 

the Bureau of International Labor Affairs 

has reason to believe are produced by 

forced labor or child labor in violation 

of international standards; 

(D) Work with persons who are 

involved in the production of goods on 

the list described in subparagraph (C) to 

create a standard set of practices that 

will reduce the likelihood that such 

persons will produce goods using the 

labor described in such subparagraph; 

and 

(E) Consult with other departments 

and agencies of the United States 

Government to reduce forced and child 

labor internationally and ensure that 

products made by forced labor and child 

labor in violation of international 

standards are not imported into the 

United States. 

The Office carries out the DOL 

mandates in the TVPRA. These 

Guidelines provide the framework for 

ILAB’s implementation of the TVPRA 

mandate, and establish procedures for 

the submission and review of 

information and the process for 

developing and maintaining the List. In 

addition to the Office’s efforts under the 

TVPRA, the Office conducts and 

publishes research on child labor and 

forced labor worldwide. The Office 

consults such sources as DOL’s Findings 

on the Worst Forms of Child Labor; the 

Department of State’s annual Country 

Reports on Human Rights Practices and 

Trafficking in Persons Reports; reports 

by governmental, non-governmental, 

and international organizations; and 

reports by academic and research 

institutions and other sources. 

In addition to reviewing information 

submitted by the public in response to 

this Notice, the Office will also conduct 

a public hearing to gather information to 

assist in the development of the List. 

The Office will evaluate all information 

received according to the processes 

outlined in these Guidelines. Goods that 

meet the criteria outlined in these 

Guidelines will be placed on an initial 

List, published in the Federal Register 

and on the DOL Web site. DOL intends 

to maintain and update the List over 

time, through its own research, 

interagency consultations, and 

additional public submissions of 

information. Procedures for the ongoing 

maintenance of the List, and key terms 

used in these Guidelines, are described 

in detail below. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 247 / Thursday, December 27, 2007 / Notices 73375 

Public Comments 

On October 1, 2007, ILAB published 

a Federal Register notice of proposed 

procedural guidelines, requesting public 

comments on the proposed guidelines 

(72 FR 55808 (Oct. 1, 2007)). The notice 

provided a 30-day period for submitting 

written comments, which closed on Oct. 

31, 2007. Written comments were 

received from nine parties. Several of 

the comments strongly supported the 

Department’s efforts to combat child 

labor and forced labor. All of the 

comments were given careful 

consideration and where appropriate, 

changes were made to the Guidelines. 

The comments and any revisions to the 

proposed Guidelines are explained in 

detail below. 

A. Comments Concerning the Office’s 

Evaluation of Information 

Several commenters questioned the 

Department’s decision to consider 

information up to seven years old. One 

commenter asserted that even one-yearold information should be considered 

too dated to be relevant. The 

Department appreciates the importance 

of using up-to-date information. It is 

also the Office’s experience that the use 

of child labor and forced labor in a 

country or in the production of a 

particular good typically persists for 

several years, particularly when no 

meaningful action is taken to combat it. 

Information about such activities is 

often actively concealed. Information 

that is several years old therefore can 

provide useful context for more current 

information. The Office will consider 

the date of all available information, 

and, as stated in the proposed 

Guidelines, ‘‘more current information 

will generally be given priority.’’

One commenter questioned how the 

Office would treat information on 

government efforts to combat the use of 

child labor and forced labor, stating that 

where a government undertakes 

voluntary efforts to regulate the 

production of goods and/or prosecutes 

incidents of child labor or forced labor, 

such government initiatives should not 

result in designating a particular good 

on the List. In response, the Office 

affirms the important role of 

government law enforcement, as well as 

other government, private sector, and 

third-party voluntary actions and 

initiatives to combat child labor and 

forced labor such as company and 

industry codes of conduct. However, the 

Office notes that some voluntary 

actions, as with some enforcement 

actions, are more effective than others. 

For example, some prosecutions may 

result in minimal or suspended 

sentences for the responsible parties, 

and some voluntary actions by 

government, industry, or third parties, 

may be ineffective in combating the 

violative labor practices at issue. 

Accordingly, in determining whether to 

include a good and country on the List, 

the Office will consider particularly 

relevant and probative any available 

evidence of government, industry, and 

third-party actions and initiatives that 

are effective in significantly reducing if 

not eliminating child labor and forced 

labor. 

Two commenters questioned why the 

Office would not consider confidential 

information in a submission, with one 

commenter stating that a submitter 

should have the option of providing 

information containing confidential 

information to the Office while also 

providing a redacted version for public 

release. In response, the Office has 

clarified its handling of submissions 

containing confidential, personal, or 

classified information. In the interest of 

maintaining a transparent process, the 

Office will not accept classified 

information in developing the List. The 

Office may request that any such 

information brought to its attention be 

declassified. The Office will accept 

submissions containing confidential or 

personal information, but pursuant to 

applicable laws and regulations may 

redact such submissions before making 

them publicly available. 

B. Comments Concerning the List of 

Goods and Countries 

Several commenters questioned why 

the List includes raw materials and/or 

components directly produced using 

child labor and forced labor, but not 

final goods made in part (indirectly 

produced) with such materials or 

components. Another commenter 

suggested that any final good produced 

indirectly with child labor or forced 

labor at any point in its production 

chain should be placed on the List, and 

that the List should specify where in the 

production chain the child labor or 

forced labor occurred. While the Office 

appreciates the importance of tracking 

raw materials or components produced 

in violation of international child labor 

or forced labor standards through the 

production chain, the difficulty of 

accurately conducting such tracking 

places it beyond the scope of these 

Guidelines. Ideally, the Office would 

have access to public information that 

would permit the comprehensive 

tracking of raw materials and 

component parts in the global supply 

chain, but the Office is unaware of any 

such publicly available information. 

Moreover, the Office is aware that many 

goods used as raw materials or 

components in the production of other 

goods may be sourced from multiple 

locations within a country or even from 

several different countries. 

Consequently, it would likely be 

extremely difficult to develop reliable 

information on the final destination or 

use of every good produced with child 

labor or forced labor. Inasmuch as the 

primary purpose of the List is to 

promote efforts at the country level to 

combat child labor and forced labor, 

that purpose is best served by 

identifying goods directly produced 

with child labor and forced labor. The 

Office observes that nothing in these 

Guidelines would prevent a member of 

the public from tracking the final 

destination or use of any good on the 

List. 

Several commenters requested that 

the List name individual companies 

using child labor or forced labor, with 

two commenters suggesting that this 

practice would protect entities that do 

not use child labor or forced labor in 

their supply chains, or that might 

otherwise unknowingly trade in such 

goods. One commenter suggested that, 

in addition to listing goods and 

countries, the Office name industries 

using such goods. Another commenter 

suggested that the Office distinguish 

among individual factories within a 

country on the List, to ensure that goods 

not produced with child labor or forced 

labor are not subject to the same 

treatment as goods that are so produced. 

Another commenter suggested that the 

Department hold individual violators 

publicly accountable. 

The TVPRA mandated a List of goods 

and countries, not company or industry 

names. It would be immensely difficult 

for the Office to attempt to track the 

identity of every company and industry 

using a good produced with child labor 

or forced labor. In addition, it is the 

Office’s experience that child labor and 

forced labor frequently occur in small 

local enterprises, for which company 

names, if they are available, have little 

relevance. The Office is also aware that 

it is often a simple matter to change or 

conceal the name of a company. 

Consequently, the Office has concluded 

that seeking to track and name 

individual companies would be of 

limited value to the primary purpose of 

the List, which is to promote 

ameliorative efforts at the country level. 

Moreover, holding individual violators 

accountable would exceed the mandate 

of the TVPRA of 2005. However, the 

TVPRA of 2005 requires that the 

Department work with persons who are 

involved in the production of goods on 

the List to create a standard set of 

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practices to reduce the likelihood that 

such persons will produce goods using 

such labor. The Department intends to 

work with such persons once the initial 

List is developed. 

C. Comments Concerning the 

Development and Maintenance of the 

List 

One commenter suggested that the 

List be updated at regular intervals, and 

at least annually. Another commenter 

noted that the proposed Guidelines do 

not set a limit on how long a good may 

remain on the List, or a time period 

within which DOL must review the 

designation of a particular good. The 

Office anticipates that the addition, 

maintenance, or removal of an item on 

the List will be driven largely by the 

availability of accurate information. The 

Office will conduct its own research on 

goods produced with child labor and 

forced labor, and anticipates that 

additional information used to develop 

and maintain the List will be provided 

by the public. Consequently, the Office 

considers it a more efficient use of 

resources to re-examine goods on the 

List as pertinent information becomes 

available, rather than adhering to a fixed 

review schedule. 

One commenter suggested that the 

Office provide a fixed time period 

within which it will decide whether to 

accept a submission of information. The 

Office has revised section B.3 of the 

Guidelines to remove the possibility 

that a submission of information will 

not be accepted. All submissions of 

information (with the exception of those 

containing classified information) will 

be accepted and evaluated for their 

relevance and probative value. 

One commenter suggested that the 

Guidelines provide that the Office make 

a final determination whether to place 

a good on the List within a specific 

timeframe, such as within 120 days of 

receiving the submission. Although the 

Office intends to expedite its evaluation 

of any information submitted in 

response to this notice, it cannot 

guarantee that the Office’s evaluation of 

a particular submission will be 

completed within a set timeframe. Some 

submissions may require further 

investigation by the Office, and other 

submissions may result in responsive 

submissions by other parties. Setting a 

fixed deadline may result in the 

inclusion or exclusion of a good on the 

List without the most comprehensive 

review possible. 

One commenter suggested that before 

an entry is removed from the List, the 

Office should publish a notice in the 

Federal Register announcing its 

intention to consider removal of the 

entry and giving interested parties an 

opportunity to comment. The Office 

does not intend to provide advance 

notice before an item is added to or 

removed from the List; however, if 

information is submitted that tends to 

support a change to the List, that 

information will be publicly available 

on the Office’s Web site and will 

provide notice to the public that the 

status of a particular good is under 

review. Moreover, the Office retains the 

discretion to request additional 

information from time to time 

concerning a particular good; such a 

request will also provide notice to the 

public that the status of a good is under 

active consideration. 

One commenter suggested that the 

Office ensure that any information 

indicating a possible violation of U.S. 

law is referred to an appropriate law 

enforcement agency. The Department 

has well-established procedures for the 

referral of information indicating a 

possible violation of U.S. laws to 

appropriate law enforcement agencies, 

and these procedures will be followed 

throughout the development and 

maintenance of the List. 

D. Comments Concerning Definitions 

and Terms 

Two commenters were concerned 

about the definitions of child labor and 

forced labor in the proposed Guidelines, 

questioning why they did not expressly 

reference International Labor 

Organization (ILO) conventions 

addressing child labor and forced labor. 

The commenters questioned why there 

were apparent differences between the 

definitions of terms in the proposed 

Guidelines and the corresponding 

definitions in the relevant ILO 

conventions. The Office has carefully 

considered these comments. 

Consequently, the definitions used in 

the final Guidelines have been revised 

to clarify that the Office will apply 

international standards. 

Four commenters questioned the use 

of the terms ‘‘significant incidence’’ and 

‘‘isolated incident’’ in the proposed 

Guidelines. One commenter raised an 

apparent inconsistency between the 

terms ‘‘significant,’’ ‘‘prevalent,’’ and 

‘‘pattern of practice,’’ in the proposed 

Guidelines’ description of the amount of 

evidence that would weigh in favor of 

a finding that a particular good is 

produced in violation of international 

standards. Another commenter stated 

that the terms ‘‘significant’’ and 

‘‘prevalent’’ provide inadequate 

guidance, because they do not address 

the percentage of workplaces in a 

country producing a particular good in 

violation of international standards, or 

whether a good produced in one 

location represents a large or small 

share of a country’s total exports of the 

good. One commenter recommended 

that the terms ‘‘significant’’ and 

‘‘prevalent’’ be replaced with 

‘‘recurring.’’ Another commenter 

recommended that a more precise 

guideline be developed with respect to 

how much child labor or forced labor 

warrants the placement of a good on the 

List. One final commenter on this issue 

suggested that a good be removed from 

the List only if the use of child labor or 

forced labor is ‘‘insignificant,’’ stating 

that that term is more precise than the 

terms used in the proposed Guidelines. 

It is neither possible nor useful to 

precisely quantify the amount or 

percentage of child labor or forced labor 

that will be considered ‘‘significant,’’

since what is considered ‘‘significant’’

will vary with a number of other factors. 

For that reason, the Guidelines provide 

that a ‘‘significant incidence’’ of child 

labor or forced labor occurring in the 

production of a particular good is only 

one among several factors that would be 

weighed before a good is added to, or 

removed from, the List. Other factors 

include whether the situation described 

meets the definitions of child labor or 

forced labor; the probative value of the 

evidence submitted; the date and 

source(s) of the information; and the 

extent to which the information is 

corroborated. The Guidelines also make 

clear that the Office will consider any 

available evidence of government, 

industry, and third-party actions and 

initiatives that are effective in 

significantly reducing if not eliminating 

child labor and forced labor. However, 

in response to these comments, the 

Office has decided to clarify the nature 

of the information sought by deleting 

the use of the term ‘‘prevalent.’’ The 

Office will also change the phrase, 

‘‘pattern of practice,’’ to ‘‘pattern or 

practice.’’ The suggested terms 

‘‘recurring’’ or ‘‘insignificant’’ provide 

no additional precision. 

Two commenters requested that the 

goods on the List be identified as 

specifically as possible, to avoid 

confusion with similar goods that have 

not been produced using child labor or 

forced labor in violation of international 

standards. Some commenters suggested 

that the List use product codes 

developed for the Harmonized Tariff 

Schedule (HTS), reasoning that the use 

of such codes would both provide more 

specificity and improve interagency 

consultation. The Office intends to 

identify all goods on the List as 

specifically as possible, depending on 

available information. However, parties 

submitting information on a particular 

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good may not have the necessary 

expertise to properly utilize the product 

codes developed for the HTS. 

Another commenter suggested that 

the Office specifically include 

agricultural commodities in the 

definition of ‘‘goods.’’ The Office 

considers that the term ‘‘goods’’

includes agricultural products and the 

definition of ‘‘produced’’ in the 

Guidelines expressly covers goods that 

are harvested or farmed. 

Final Procedural Guidelines 

A. Sources of Information and Factors 

Considered in the Development and 

Maintenance of the List 

The Office will make use of all 

relevant information, whether gathered 

through research, public submissions of 

information, a public hearing, 

interagency consultations, or other 

means, in developing the List. In the 

interest of maintaining a transparent 

process, the Office will not accept 

classified information in developing the 

List. The Office may request that any 

such information brought to its attention 

be declassified. If submissions contain 

confidential or personal information, 

the Office may redact such information 

in accordance with applicable laws and 

regulations before making the 

submission available to the public. 

In evaluating information, the Office 

will consider and weigh several factors, 

including: 

1. Nature of information. Whether the 

information about child labor or forced 

labor gathered from research, public 

submissions, hearing testimony, or other 

sources is relevant and probative, and 

meets the definitions of child labor or 

forced labor. 

2. Date of information. Whether the 

information about child labor or forced 

labor in the production of the good(s) is 

no more than 7 years old at the time of 

receipt. More current information will 

generally be given priority, and 

information older than 7 years will 

generally not be considered. 

3. Source of information. Whether the 

information, either from primary or 

secondary sources, is from a source 

whose methodology, prior publications, 

degree of familiarity and experience 

with international labor standards, and/ 

or reputation for accuracy and 

objectivity, warrants a determination 

that it is relevant and probative. 

4. Extent of corroboration. The extent 

to which the information about the use 

of child labor or forced labor in the 

production of a good(s) is corroborated 

by other sources. 

5. Significant incidence of child labor 

or forced labor. Whether the 

information about the use of child labor 

or forced labor in the production of a 

good(s) warrants a determination that 

the incidence of such practices is 

significant in the country in question. 

Information that relates only to a single 

company or facility; or that indicates an 

isolated incident of child labor or forced 

labor, will ordinarily not weigh in favor 

of a finding that a good is produced in 

violation of international standards. 

Information that demonstrates a 

significant incidence of child labor or 

forced labor in the production of a 

particular good(s), although not 

necessarily representing a pattern or 

practice in the industry as a whole, will 

ordinarily weigh in favor of a finding 

that a good is produced in violation of 

international standards. 

In determining which goods and 

countries are to be placed on the List, 

the Office will, as appropriate, take into 

consideration the stages in the chain of 

a good’s production. Whether a good is 

placed on the List may depend on 

which stage of production used child 

labor or forced labor. For example, if 

child labor or forced labor was only 

used in the extraction, harvesting, 

assembly, or production of raw 

materials or component articles, and 

these materials or articles are 

subsequently used under non-violative 

conditions in the manufacture or 

processing of a final good, only the raw 

materials/component articles and the 

country/ies where they were extracted, 

harvested, assembled, or produced, as 

appropriate, may be placed on the List. 

If child labor or forced labor was used 

in both the production or extraction of 

raw materials/component articles and 

the manufacture or processing of a final 

good, then both the raw materials/ 

component articles and the final good, 

and the country/ies in which such labor 

was used, may be placed on the List. 

This is to ensure a direct 

correspondence between the goods and 

countries which appear on the List, and 

the use of child labor or forced labor. 

Information on government, industry, 

or third-party actions and initiatives to 

combat child labor or forced labor will 

be taken into consideration, although 

they are not necessarily sufficient in and 

of themselves to prevent a good and 

country from being listed. In evaluating 

such information, the Office will 

consider particularly relevant and 

probative any evidence of government, 

industry, and third-party actions and 

initiatives that are effective in 

significantly reducing if not eliminating 

child labor and forced labor. 

Goods and countries (‘‘entries’’) that 

meet the criteria outlined in these 

procedural Guidelines will be placed on 

an initial List, to be published in the 

Federal Register and on the DOL Web 

site. This initial List will continue to be 

updated as additional information 

becomes available. Before publication of 

the initial List or subsequent versions of 

the List, the Office will inform the 

relevant foreign governments of their 

presence on the List and request their 

responses. The Office will review these 

responses and make a determination as 

to their relevance. The List, along with 

a listing of the sources used to identify 

the goods and countries on it, will be 

published in the Federal Register and 

on the DOL Web site. The List will 

represent DOL’s conclusions based on 

all relevant information available at the 

time of publication. 

For each entry, the List will indicate 

whether the good is made using child 

labor, forced labor, or both. As the List 

continues to be maintained and 

updated, the List will also indicate the 

date when each entry was included. The 

List will not include any company or 

individual names. DOL’s postings on its 

website of source material used in 

identifying goods and countries on the 

List will be redacted to remove 

company or individual names, and 

other confidential material, pursuant to 

applicable laws and regulations. 

B. Procedures for the Maintenance of 

the List 

1. Following publication of the initial 

List, the Office will periodically review 

and update the List, as appropriate. The 

Office conducts ongoing research and 

monitoring of child labor and forced 

labor, and if relevant information is 

obtained through such research, the 

Office may add an entry to, or remove 

an entry from the List using the process 

described in section A of the 

Guidelines. The Office may also update 

the List on the basis of public 

information submissions, as detailed 

below. 

2. Any party may at any time file an 

information submission with the Office 

regarding the addition or removal of an 

entry from the List. Submitters should 

take note of the criteria and instructions 

in the ‘‘Information Requested on Child 

Labor and Forced Labor’’ section of this 

notice, as well as the criteria listed in 

Section A of the Guidelines. 

3. The Office will review any 

submission of information to determine 

whether it provides relevant and 

probative information. 

4. The Office may consider a 

submission less reliable if it determines 

that: the submission does not clearly 

indicate the source(s) of the information 

presented; the submission does not 

identify the party filing the submission 

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73378 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 247 / Thursday, December 27, 2007 / Notices 

or is not signed and dated; the 

submission does not provide relevant or 

probative information; or, the 

information is not within the scope of 

the TVPRA and/or does not address 

child labor or forced labor as defined 

herein. All submissions received will be 

made available to the public on the DOL 

Web site, consistent with applicable 

laws or regulations. 

5. In evaluating a submission, the 

Office will conduct further examination 

of available information relating to the 

good and country, as necessary, to assist 

the Office in making a determination 

concerning the addition or removal of 

the good from the List. The Office will 

undertake consultations with relevant 

U.S. government agencies and foreign 

governments, and may hold a public 

hearing for the purpose of receiving 

relevant information from interested 

persons. 

6. In order for an entry to be removed 

from the List, any person filing 

information regarding the entry must 

provide information that demonstrates 

that there is no significant incidence of 

child labor or forced labor in the 

production of the particular good in the 

country in question. In evaluating 

information on government, industry, or 

third-party actions and initiatives to 

combat child labor or forced labor, the 

Office will consider particularly 

relevant and probative any available 

evidence of government, industry, and 

third-party actions that are effective in 

significantly reducing if not eliminating 

child labor and forced labor. 

7. Where the Office has made a 

determination concerning the addition, 

maintenance, or removal of the entry 

from the List, and where otherwise 

appropriate, the Office will publish an 

updated List in the Federal Register and 

on the DOL Web site. 

C. Key Terms Used in the Guidelines 

‘‘Child Labor’’—‘‘Child labor’’ under 

international standards means all work 

performed by a person below the age of 

15. It also includes all work performed 

by a person below the age of 18 in the 

following practices: (A) All forms of 

slavery or practices similar to slavery, 

such as the sale or trafficking of 

children, debt bondage and serfdom, or 

forced or compulsory labor, 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 

purposes; (C) the use, procuring, or 

offering of a child for illicit activities in 

particular for the production and 

trafficking of drugs; and (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. The work referred to 

in subparagraph (D) is determined by 

the laws, regulations, or competent 

authority of the country involved, after 

consultation with the organizations of 

employers and workers concerned, and 

taking into consideration relevant 

international standards. This definition 

will not apply to work specifically 

authorized by national laws, including 

work done by children in schools for 

general, vocational or technical 

education or in other training 

institutions, where such work is carried 

out in accordance with international 

standards under conditions prescribed 

by the competent authority, and does 

not prejudice children’s attendance in 

school or their capacity to benefit from 

the instruction received. 

‘‘Countries’’—‘‘Countries’’ means any 

foreign country or territory, including 

any overseas dependent territory or 

possession of a foreign country, or the 

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. 

‘‘Forced Labor’’—‘‘Forced labor’’

under international standards means all 

work or service which is exacted from 

any person under the menace of any 

penalty for its nonperformance and for 

which the worker does not offer himself 

voluntarily, and includes indentured 

labor. ‘‘Forced labor’’ includes work 

provided or obtained by force, fraud, or 

coercion, including: (1) By threats of 

serious harm to, or physical restraint 

against any person; (2) by means of any 

scheme, plan, or pattern intended to 

cause the person to believe that, if the 

person did not perform such labor or 

services, that person or another person 

would suffer serious harm or physical 

restraint; or (3) by means of the abuse 

or threatened abuse of law or the legal 

process. For purposes of this definition, 

forced labor does not include work 

specifically authorized by national laws 

where such work is carried out in 

accordance with conditions prescribed 

by the competent authority, including: 

any work or service required by 

compulsory military service laws for 

work of a purely military character; 

work or service which forms part of the 

normal civic obligations of the citizens 

of a fully self-governing country; work 

or service exacted from any person as a 

consequence of a conviction in a court 

of law, provided that the said work or 

service is carried out under the 

supervision and control of a public 

authority and that the said person is not 

hired to or placed at the disposal of 

private individuals, companies or 

associations; work or service required in 

cases of emergency, such as in the event 

of war or of a calamity or threatened 

calamity, fire, flood, famine, earthquake, 

violent epidemic or epizootic diseases, 

invasion by animal, insect or vegetable 

pests, and in general any circumstance 

that would endanger the existence or 

the well-being of the whole or part of 

the population; and minor communal 

services of a kind which, being 

performed by the members of the 

community in the direct interest of the 

said community, can therefore be 

considered as normal civic obligations 

incumbent upon the members of the 

community, provided that the members 

of the community or their direct 

representatives have the right to be 

consulted in regard to the need for such 

services. 

‘‘Goods’’—‘‘Goods’’ means goods, 

wares, articles, materials, items, 

supplies, and merchandise. 

‘‘Indentured Labor’’—‘‘Indentured 

labor’’ means all labor undertaken 

pursuant to a contract entered into by an 

employee the enforcement of which can 

be accompanied by process or penalties. 

‘‘International Standards’’—

‘‘International standards’’ means 

generally accepted international 

standards relating to forced labor and 

child labor, such as international 

conventions and treaties. These 

Guidelines employ definitions of ‘‘child 

labor’’ and ‘‘forced labor’’ derived from 

international standards. 

‘‘Produced’’—‘‘Produced’’ means 

mined, extracted, harvested, farmed, 

produced, created, and manufactured. 

Information Requested on Child Labor 

and Forced Labor 

DOL requests current information 

about the nature and extent of child 

labor and forced labor in the production 

of goods internationally, as well as 

information on government, industry, or 

third-party actions and initiatives to 

address these problems. Information 

submitted may include studies, reports, 

statistics, news articles, electronic 

media, or other sources. Submitters 

should take into consideration the 

‘‘Sources of Information and Factors 

Considered in the Development and 

Maintenance of the List’’ (Section A of 

the Procedural Guidelines), as well as 

the definitions of child labor and forced 

labor contained in section C of the 

Guidelines. 

Information tending to establish the 

presence or absence of a significant 

incidence of child labor or forced labor 

in the production of a particular good in 

a country will be considered the most 

relevant and probative. Governments 

that have ratified International Labor 

Organization (‘‘ILO’’) Convention 138 

(Minimum Age), Convention 182 (Worst 

Forms of Child Labor), Convention 29 

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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 247 / Thursday, December 27, 2007 / Notices 73379 

(Forced Labor) and/or Convention 105 

(Abolition of Forced Labor) may wish to 

submit relevant copies of their 

responses to any Observations or Direct 

Requests by the ILO’s Committee of 

Experts on the Application of 

Conventions and Recommendations. 

Where applicable, information 

submissions should indicate their 

source or sources, and copies of the 

source material should be provided. If 

primary sources are utilized, such as 

research studies, interviews, direct 

observations, or other sources of 

quantitative or qualitative data, details 

on the research or data-gathering 

methodology should be provided. 

Information should be submitted to 

the addresses and within the time 

period set forth above. Submissions 

made via fax, mail, express delivery, 

hand delivery, or messenger service 

should clearly identify the person filing 

the submission and should be signed 

and dated. Submissions made via mail, 

express delivery, hand delivery, or 

messenger service should include an 

original and three copies of all materials 

and attachments. If possible, submitters 

should also provide copies of such 

materials and attachments on a 

computer disc. Note that securityrelated screening may result in 

significant delays in receiving 

comments and other written materials 

by regular mail. 

Classified information will not be 

accepted. The Office may request that 

classified information brought to its 

attention be declassified. Submissions 

containing confidential or personal 

information may be redacted by the 

Office before being made available to 

the public, in accordance with 

applicable laws and regulations. All 

submissions will be made available to 

the public on the DOL Web site, as 

appropriate. The Office will not respond 

directly to submissions or return any 

submissions to the submitter, but the 

Office may communicate with the 

submitter regarding any matters relating 

to the submission. 

Announcement of Public Hearing 

DOL intends to hold a public hearing 

in 2008 to gather further information to 

assist in the development of the List. 

DOL expects to issue a Federal Register 

Notice announcing the hearing at least 

30 days prior to the hearing date. The 

scope of the hearing will focus on the 

collection of information on child labor 

and forced labor in the production of 

goods internationally, and information 

on government, industry, or third-party 

actions and initiatives to combat child 

labor and forced labor. Information 

tending to demonstrate the presence or 

absence of a significant incidence of 

child labor or forced labor in the 

production of a particular good in a 

country will be considered the most 

relevant and probative. 

Signed at Washington, DC, this 20th day of 

December, 2007. 

Charlotte M. Ponticelli, 

Deputy Undersecretary for International 

Affairs. 

[FR Doc. E7–25036 Filed 12–26–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–28–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as 

part of its continuing effort to reduce 

paperwork and respondent burden, 

conducts a pre-clearance consultation 

program to provide the general public 

and Federal agencies with an 

opportunity to comment on proposed 

and/or continuing collections of 

information in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c) (2)(A)]. This 

program helps to ensure that requested 

data can be provided in the desired 

format, reporting burden (time and 

financial resources) is minimized, 

collection instruments are clearly 

understood, and the impact of collection 

requirements on respondents can be 

properly assessed. Currently, the Bureau 

of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting 

comments concerning the proposed 

revision of the ‘‘Current Population 

Survey (CPS).’’ A copy of the proposed 

information collection request (ICR) can 

be obtained by contacting the individual 

listed below in the ADDRESSES section of 

this notice. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted to the office listed in the 

Addresses section below on or before 

February 25, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Amy A. 

Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, Division 

of Management Systems, Bureau of 

Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 2 

Massachusetts Avenue, NE., 

Washington, DC 20212, 202–691–7628. 

(This is not a toll-free number.) 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 

202–691–7628. (See ADDRESSES section.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The CPS has been the principal 

source of the official Government 

statistics on employment and 

unemployment for over 60 years. The 

labor force information gathered 

through the survey is of paramount 

importance in keeping track of the 

economic health of the Nation. The 

survey is the only source of monthly 

data on total employment and 

unemployment, with the Employment 

Situation report containing data from 

this survey being a Primary Federal 

Economic Indicator (PFEI). Moreover, 

the survey also yields data on the basic 

status and characteristics of persons not 

in the labor force. The CPS data are used 

monthly, in conjunction with data from 

other sources, to analyze the extent to 

which, and with what success, the 

various components of the American 

population are participating in the 

economic life of the Nation. 

The labor force data gathered through 

the CPS are provided to users in the 

greatest detail possible, in conjunction 

with the demographic information 

obtained in the survey. In brief, the 

labor force data can be broken down by 

sex, age, race and ethnic origin, marital 

status, family composition, educational 

level, and other characteristics. 

Beginning in 2009, a breakdown by 

disability status will also be possible. 

Through such breakdowns, one can 

focus on the employment situation of 

specific population groups as well as on 

general trends in employment and 

unemployment. Information of this type 

can be obtained only through 

demographically oriented surveys such 

as the CPS. 

The basic CPS data also are used as 

an important platform on which to base 

the data derived from the various 

supplemental questions that are 

administered in conjunction with the 

survey. By coupling the basic data from 

the monthly survey with the special 

data from the supplements, one can get 

valuable insights on the behavior of 

American workers and on the social and 

economic health of their families. 

There is wide interest in the monthly 

CPS data among Government 

policymakers, legislators, economists, 

the media, and the general public. 

While the data from the CPS are used in 

conjunction with data from other 

surveys in assessing the economic 

health of the Nation, they are unique in 

various ways. Specifically, they are the 

basis for much of the monthly 

Employment Situation report, a PFEI. 

They provide a monthly, nationally 

representative measure of total 

employment, including farm work, selfemployment and unpaid family work; 

other surveys are generally restricted to 

the nonagricultural wage and salary 

sector, or provide less timely 

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