37518 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 120 / Thursday, June 23, 2022 / Notices 

1The Typology of Modern Slavery report 

analyzing data from the National Human 

Trafficking Hotline is available at https://

polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ 

Polaris-Typology-of-Modern-Slavery-1.pdf. 

2Press release for the HHS Task Force to Prevent 

Human Trafficking is available at https://

www.hhs.gov/about/news/2022/01/31/secretarybecerra-announces-new-hhs-task-force-to-preventhuman-trafficking.html. 

3The National Strategy for a Resilient Public 

Health Supply Chain is available at https://

www.phe.gov/Preparedness/legal/Documents/ 

National-Strategy-for-Resilient-Public-HealthSupply-Chain.pdf. 

4Executive Order 14001 is available at https://

www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/26/ 

2021-01865/a-sustainable-public-health-supplychain. 

5More information on mitigating labor trafficking 

in public health supply chains is available at 

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/blog/2021/10/mitigatinglabor-trafficking-public-health-supply-chains. 

6Additional text on 18 U.S.C. 1589 is available 

at https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?hl=false&

edition=prelim&req=granuleid%3AUSC-2000- 

title18-section1589&num=0. 

7Additional text on 19 U.S.C. 1307 is available 

at https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:

19%20section:1307%20edition:prelim). 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Administration for Children and 

Families 

Request for Information: Forced Labor 

in Healthcare Supply Chains 

AGENCY: Office on Trafficking in Persons 

(OTIP), Administration for Children and 

Families (ACF), U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services (HHS). 

ACTION: Notice of Request for 

Information. 

SUMMARY: The Office on Trafficking in 

Persons (OTIP) requests information on 

forced labor, a form of human 

trafficking, in healthcare supply chains 

including monitoring, training, and 

research efforts. This request for 

information (RFI) is part of OTIP’s 

ongoing efforts to seek public comments 

to inform implementation of Executive 

Order 14001 (A Sustainable Public 

Health Supply Chain), the National 

Strategy for a Resilient Public Health 

Supply Chain, and other related efforts 

on forced labor. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by midnight Eastern Daylight 

Time (EDT) 30 days after posting. OTIP 

will not respond individually to 

responders but will consider all 

comments submitted by the deadline. 

ADDRESSES: Please submit all responses 

via email to EndTrafficking@acf.hhs.gov 

with ‘‘RFI: Forced Labor in Healthcare 

Supply Chains’’ in the subject. 

Submissions can include attachments of 

or links to any supporting 

documentation (e.g., research, training 

materials, policies, data). Please provide 

your contact information, including the 

organization name, for possible followup from OTIP. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Alyssa Wheeler, Policy Analyst, Office 

on Trafficking in Persons, Email: 

Alyssa.Wheeler@acf.hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

OTIP is responsible for the 

development of anti-trafficking 

strategies, policies, and programs to 

prevent human trafficking, build health 

and human service capacity to respond 

to human trafficking, increase victim 

identification and access to services, 

and strengthen health and well-being 

outcomes of trafficking survivors. OTIP 

funds the National Human Trafficking 

Hotline, where an analysis of 32,000 

cases reported into the hotline 

identified healthcare services as one of 

25 industries impacted by human 

trafficking.1 OTIP programs also include 

grants to community-based 

organizations to fund comprehensive 

case management services for survivors 

of human trafficking, training and 

technical assistance for health and 

human service organizations to build 

capacity to respond to human 

trafficking, and research and policy 

guidance. OTIP serves as the secretariat 

for the HHS Task Force to Prevent 

Human Trafficking.2

In July 2021, HHS published the 

National Strategy for a Resilient Public 

Health Supply Chain in response to 

Executive Order 14001 on a sustainable 

public health supply chain.345 The 

strategy incorporates learnings from 

experiences of significant disruptions to 

public health supply chains during the 

COVID–19 pandemic. It reinforces a 

commitment to an ethical, equitable, 

and environmentally sustainable public 

health supply chain. This includes a 

call to ‘‘having processes in place to 

identify and mitigate sourcing risks 

such as child labor, forced labor, and 

human trafficking.’’ The strategy 

recognizes the impact of production 

scarcity, decrease in qualified labor, 

insufficient technical skills, and other 

domestic and international factors as 

increasing risk of forced labor. For 

example, Objective 1.4 incorporates 

efforts on forced labor while combatting 

unfair trade. 

As part of this response, the 

Procurement and Supply Chains 

Committee of the Senior Policy 

Operating Group under the President’s 

Interagency Taskforce to Monitor and 

Combat Trafficking in Persons 

established a subgroup on Forced Labor 

in Global Supply Chains. This subgroup 

is coordinating relevant federal efforts 

on corporate accountability and 

compliance, including with the 

healthcare industry. 

Public comments responding to this 

RFI may inform OTIP, HHS, and federal 

interagency efforts on trainings, policy 

guidance, resources, and coordination 

on data and due diligence tailored to 

healthcare organizations, procurement 

professionals, and suppliers. 

II. Definitions 

The term ‘‘forced labor’’ is defined for 

U.S. enforcement purposes in two 

separate sections of the United States 

Code. First, the criminal statutes of Title 

18 encompass the range of activities 

involved in obtaining the labor or 

services of a person including (1) force, 

threats of force, physical restraint, or 

threats of physical restraint; (2) serious 

harm, threats of serious harm; (3) abuse 

or threatened abuse of the legal process; 

(4) or by a ‘‘scheme, plan or pattern’’ 

designed to cause fear of serious harm 

or physical restraint (18 U.S.C. 1589). 

Once a person’s labor is obtained by 

such means, the person’s previous 

consent or effort to obtain employment 

with the trafficker does not preclude the 

person from being considered a victim, 

or the government from prosecuting the 

offender. Title 18 also defines forced 

labor as occurring when an individual 

or entity ‘‘knowingly benefits, 

financially or by receiving anything of 

value, from participating in a venture 

which has engaged in providing or 

obtaining labor or services by prohibited 

means, knowing or in reckless disregard 

of the fact that the venture has engaged 

in providing or obtaining labor or 

services by such prohibited means.’’ 6

Second, the customs-related statute of 

Title 19 defines forced labor in 

connection with the prohibition on the 

importation of goods mined, produced, 

or manufactured wholly or in part by 

convict labor, forced labor, and/or 

indentured labor (19 U.S.C. 1307). In 

this context, forced and/or indentured 

labor includes children and is defined 

as ‘‘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.’’ 7

Forced labor is also referenced in 

connection to human trafficking 

protections codified in Title 22, 

specifically in forms of labor trafficking 

(22 U.S.C. 7102). Labor trafficking, one 

type of ‘‘severe forms of trafficking in 

persons,’’ means ‘‘the recruitment, 

harboring, transportation, provision, or 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 120 / Thursday, June 23, 2022 / Notices 37519 

8Additional text on 22 U.S.C. 7102 is available 

at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE2011-title22/html/USCODE-2011-title22- 

chap78.htm. 

obtaining of a person for labor or 

services, through the use of force, fraud, 

or coercion for the purpose of subjection 

to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt 

bondage, or slavery.’’ 8

Pursuant to concepts set out in the 

National Strategy for a Resilient Public 

Health Supply Chain, healthcare supply 

chains include the ‘‘finished product 

. . . raw materials, equipment, and 

ancillary supplies needed to make and 

use that product’’ (e.g., drugs, biological 

products, medical devices, personal 

protective equipment). For the purposes 

of the RFI, healthcare supply chains also 

include nutrition-related procurement 

and the acquisition of services, 

including delivery of clinical services 

(e.g., nursing) and ancillary services 

(e.g., food, custodial, and laundry 

services). 

For purposes of this RFI, ‘‘healthcare 

product’’ will mean any item sourced or 

produced in the healthcare supply 

chain, and ‘‘healthcare services’’ will 

refer to any services procured by an 

organization in the healthcare sector, 

including clinical and support services. 

III. Request for Comments 

OTIP is interested in all the questions 

listed below, but respondents are 

welcome to address as many or as few 

as they choose and to address additional 

areas of interest not listed. 

A. Information on Monitoring Forced 

Labor in the Procurement of Healthcare 

Services 

• Does your organization or another 

organization have established standard 

operating procedures for preventing, 

identifying, reporting, and addressing 

suspected forced labor or unfair labor 

practices by staffing agencies or other 

subcontractors providing workforce 

personnel? 

• What are your current reporting 

mechanisms in procuring clinical 

services and services in general? Would 

it be feasible to incorporate measures on 

forced labor in those mechanisms? 

• How can service contracting 

practices be strengthened in the 

healthcare sector? 

• Are there mechanisms in place for 

individuals delivering clinical or 

supporting services in the healthcare 

sector to report abuse, fraud, or forced 

labor? If so, what are those practices and 

mechanisms? What protections from 

retaliation are in place for individuals 

reporting? Are these mechanisms being 

successfully utilized? 

• What steps does your organization 

take to investigate and, if needed, 

remediate forced labor violations? 

• Are there any barriers in federal 

policies, programs, and systems that 

make it challenging to monitor and 

address forced labor risks in healthcare 

services procurement? If so, what are 

those barriers? 

B. Information on Monitoring Forced 

Labor in the Procurement of Healthcare 

Products 

• Does your organization or another 

organization have established standard 

operating procedures for preventing, 

identifying, reporting, and addressing 

suspected forced labor or unfair labor 

practices by potential suppliers or 

contractors for healthcare products? 

• What are your current due diligence 

and reporting mechanisms in procuring 

healthcare products in general? Would 

it be feasible to incorporate measures on 

forced labor in those mechanisms? 

• How can supply chain transparency 

practices be strengthened to combat 

forced labor in the healthcare products? 

• Are there practices and mechanisms 

in place for procurement professionals, 

administrators, contractors, and/or 

anyone else who might become aware of 

forced labor risks in procurement of 

goods to report abuse, fraud, or forced 

labor? If so, what are those practices and 

mechanisms? What protections from 

retaliation are in place for individuals 

reporting? Are these mechanisms being 

successfully utilized? 

• What steps does your organization 

take to investigate and, if needed, 

remediate forced labor violations? 

• Are there any barriers in federal 

policies, programs, and systems that 

make it challenging to monitor and 

address forced labor risks in healthcare 

product procurement? If so, what are 

those barriers? 

C. Information on Training and Public 

Awareness on Forced Labor in 

Healthcare Supply Chains 

• Do you think healthcare 

procurement professionals and 

suppliers are aware of forced labor in 

supply chains (e.g., production of 

personal protective equipment, medical 

equipment) or in the workforce (e.g., 

patient care services, ancillary support 

services)? 

• What resources currently exist to 

help healthcare procurement 

professionals and suppliers prevent, 

identify, report, and address forced 

labor in supply chains? Please provide 

links to resources or information on 

organizations developing resources. 

• What trainings, information 

sharing, or information collection efforts 

have successfully integrated content on 

forced labor in the acquisition of 

healthcare products and services? 

• What are the gaps in training, 

technical assistance, and awareness on 

identifying, monitoring, and addressing 

forced labor in healthcare supply 

chains? 

D. Information on Research and Data on 

Forced Labor in Healthcare Supply 

Chains 

• Who do you consider a subject 

matter expert on forced labor in 

healthcare supply chains and/or in 

supply chains more broadly? Please 

provide the name, affiliation, and email 

for any individuals you list. 

• Do you currently rely on research, 

data, or information on forced labor in 

healthcare supply chains to inform your 

organization’s practices to prevent, 

monitor, and respond to concerns? If so, 

what type of information and where do 

you access that information? 

• What research, data, or information 

would be helpful to inform and/or 

strengthen due diligence processes for 

healthcare procurement professionals 

and suppliers? 

• What diversity, equity, and 

inclusion considerations should inform 

understanding of how forced labor 

occurs in healthcare supply chains from 

both the administrative and workforce 

perspectives? 

This RFI is for planning purposes 

only and should not be construed as a 

policy, solicitation for applications, or 

as an obligation on the part of the 

Government to provide support for any 

ideas identified in response to it. OTIP 

will use the information submitted in 

response to this RFI at its discretion and 

will not provide comments to any 

responder’s submission. However, 

responses to the RFI may be reflected in 

future solicitation(s), policies, or 

publications. Respondents will not be 

identified in any published reports. 

Respondents are advised that the 

Government is under no obligation to 

acknowledge receipt of the information 

received or provide feedback to 

respondents with respect to any 

information submitted. No proprietary, 

classified, confidential, or sensitive 

information should be included in your 

response, unless marked as Business 

Confidential Information (BCI). 

Materials submitted may be made 

public. 

Material submitted by members of the 

public that is properly marked as BCI 

with a valid statutory basis will not be 

disclosed publicly. For any comments 

that contain BCI, the file name of the 

business confidential version should 

begin with the characters ‘BCI’. Any 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
37520 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 120 / Thursday, June 23, 2022 / Notices 

page containing BCI must be clearly 

marked ‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’ on 

the top of that page, and the submission 

should clearly indicate, via brackets, 

highlighting, or other means, the 

specific information that is business 

confidential. A filer requesting business 

confidential treatment must certify that 

the information is business confidential 

and that they would not customarily 

release it to the public. Filers of 

comments containing BCI also must 

submit a public version of their 

comments. The file name of the public 

version should begin with the character 

‘P’. 

Dated: June 16, 2022. 

Roshelle M. Brooks, 

Office of the Executive Secretariat, 

Administration for Children and Families. 

[FR Doc. 2022–13374 Filed 6–22–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4184–47–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

National Institutes of Health 

National Heart, Lung, and Blood 

Institute; Notice of Closed Meeting 

Pursuant to section 10(d) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 

amended, notice is hereby given of a 

meeting of the National Heart, Lung, 

and Blood Advisory Council. 

The meeting will be closed to the 

public in accordance with the 

provisions set forth in sections 

552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C., 

as amended. The grant applications and 

the discussions could disclose 

confidential trade secrets or commercial 

property such as patentable material, 

and personal information concerning 

individuals associated with the grant 

applications, the disclosure of which 

would constitute a clearly unwarranted 

invasion of personal privacy. 

Name of Committee: National Heart, Lung, 

and Blood Advisory Council. 

Date: August 23, 2022. 

Time: 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: National Institutes of Health, 

Rockledge I, 6705 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, 

MD 20892 (Virtual Meeting). 

Contact Person: Laura K. Moen, Ph.D., 

Director, Division of Extramural Research 

Activities, National Heart, Lung, and Blood 

Institute, National Institutes of Health, 6705 

Rockledge Drive, Room 206–Q, Bethesda, MD 

20892, 301–827–5517, moenl@mail.nih.gov. 

Information is also available on the 

Institute’s/Center’s home page: 

www.nhlbi.nih.gov/meetings/nhlbac/ 

index.htm, where an agenda and any 

additional information for the meeting will 

be posted when available. 

(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Nos. 93.233, National Center for 

Sleep Disorders 1Research; 93.837, Heart and 

Vascular Diseases Research; 93.838, Lung 

Diseases Research; 93.839, Blood Diseases 

and Resources Research, National Institutes 

of Health, HHS) 

Dated: June 17, 2022. 

Miguelina Perez, 

Program Analyst, Office of Federal Advisory 

Committee Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2022–13420 Filed 6–22–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

National Institutes of Health 

National Institute of General Medical 

Sciences; Notice of Closed Meeting 

Pursuant to section 10(d) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 

amended, notice is hereby given of the 

following meeting. 

The meeting will be closed to the 

public in accordance with the 

provisions set forth in sections 

552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C., 

as amended. The grant applications and 

the discussions could disclose 

confidential trade secrets or commercial 

property such as patentable material, 

and personal information concerning 

individuals associated with the grant 

applications, the disclosure of which 

would constitute a clearly unwarranted 

invasion of personal privacy. 

Name of Committee: National Institute of 

General Medical Sciences Special Emphasis 

Panel; Support for Research Excellence— 

First Independent Research (SuRE–First) 

Award (R16). 

Date: July 21, 2022. 

Time: 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: National Institute of General 

Medical Sciences, Natcher Building, 45 

Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892 (Virtual 

Meeting). 

Contact Person: Lisa A. Dunbar, Ph.D., 

Scientific Review Officer, Office of Scientific 

Review, National Institute of General Medical 

Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 45 

Center Drive, Room 3AN12, Bethesda, MD 

20892, 301–594–2849, dunbarl@mail.nih.gov. 

(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Nos. 93.375, Minority Biomedical 

Research Support; 93.821, Cell Biology and 

Biophysics Research; 93.859, Pharmacology, 

Physiology, and Biological Chemistry 

Research; 93.862, Genetics and 

Developmental Biology Research; 93.88, 

Minority Access to Research Careers; 93.96, 

Special Minority Initiatives; 93.859, 

Biomedical Research and Research Training, 

National Institutes of Health, HHS) 

Miguelina Perez, 

Program Analyst, Office of Federal Advisory 

Committee Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2022–13421 Filed 6–22–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

National Institutes of Health 

Office of the Director, National 

Institutes of Health; Notice of Meeting 

Pursuant to section 10(a) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 

amended, notice is hereby given of a 

meeting of the Novel and Exceptional 

Technology and Research Advisory 

Committee. 

The meeting will be held as a virtual 

meeting and is open to the public. 

Individuals who plan to view the virtual 

meeting and need special assistance or 

other reasonable accommodations to 

view the meeting should notify the 

Contact Person listed below in advance 

of the meeting. The meeting will be 

videocast and can be accessed from the 

NIH Videocasting and Podcasting 

website (http://videocast.nih.gov/). 

Name of Committee: Novel and 

Exceptional Technology and Research 

Advisory Committee. 

Date: July 14, 2022. 

Time: 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. 

Agenda: The Novel and Exceptional 

Technology and Research Advisory 

Committee meeting will include an update 

from the Working Group on Data Science and 

Emerging Technology and discussion of next 

steps regarding the current charge to the 

committee, delivered in June 2021. 

Place: National Institutes of Health, 6705 

Rockledge Drive, Suite 630, Bethesda, MD 

20892 (Virtual Meeting Link will be available 

at https://osp.od.nih.gov/biotechnology/ 

main-nextrac/#meetings). 

Contact Person: Jessica Tucker, Office of 

Science Policy, National Institutes of Health, 

6705 Rockledge Drive, Suite 630, Bethesda, 

MD 20892, 301–496–9838, SciencePolicy@

od.nih.gov. 

Any interested person may file written 

comments by forwarding the statement to the 

Contact Person listed on this notice at least 

two business days prior to the meeting date. 

The statement should include the name, 

address, telephone number and, when 

applicable, the business or professional 

affiliation of the interested person. Other 

than name and contact information, please 

do not include any personally identifiable 

information or any information that you do 

not wish to make public. Proprietary, 

classified, confidential, or sensitive 

information should not be included in your 

comments. Please note that any written 

comments NIH receives may be posted 


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