I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3812

To impose certain sanctions on countries that do not prohibit child labor.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 12, 1996

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. HYDE, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. MORAN,

Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts, and Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Banking and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To impose certain sanctions on countries that do not prohibit

child labor.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Child

5 Labor Elimination Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) Article 32 of the United Nations Convention

2 on the Rights of the Child recognizes ‘‘the right of

3 the child to be protected from economic exploitation

4 and from performing any work that is likely to be

5 hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education

6 or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical,

7 mental, spiritual, moral or social development.’’.

8 (2) Article 2 of the International Labor Organi9 zation Convention 138, the Minimum Age Conven10 tion, states that the minimum age for admission to

11 employment or work ‘‘shall not be less than the age

12 of completion of compulsory schooling and, in any

13 case, shall not be less than 15 years.’’.

14 (3) International Labor Organization Conven15 tion 29, the Forced Labor Convention, which has

16 been in effect since 1930, prohibits most forms of

17 ‘‘forced or compulsory labor’’, including all forced

18 labor by people under the age of 18.

19 (4) Although it is among the most universally

20 condemned of all human rights abuses, child labor is

21 widely practiced. The International Labor Organiza22 tion has estimated the total number of child workers

23 to be between 100,000,000 and 200,000,000. More

24 than 95 percent of those child workers live in devel25 oping countries.
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1 (5) The International Labor Organization has

2 estimated that 13.2 percent of all 10-to-14 year olds

3 around the world were economically active in 1995.

4 There are no reliable figures on workers under 10

5 years of age, though their numbers are known to be

6 significant. Reliable child labor statistics are not

7 readily available, in part because many governments

8 in the developing world are reluctant to document

9 those activities, which are often illegal under domes10 tic laws, which violate international standards, and

11 which may be perceived as a failure of internal pub12 lic policy.

13 (6) Notwithstanding international and domestic

14 prohibitions, many children in developing countries

15 are forced to work as debt-bonded and slave laborers

16 in hazardous and exploitative industries. According

17 to the United Nations Working Group on Contem18 porary Forms of Slavery and the International

19 Labor Organization, there are tens of millions of

20 child slaves in the world today. Large numbers of

21 those slaves are involved in agricultural and domes22 tic labor, the sex industry, the carpet and textile in23 dustries, and quarrying and brick making.
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1 (7) In many countries, children lack either the

2 legal standing or the means to protect themselves

3 from cruelty and exploitation in the workplace.

4 (8) The employment of children often interferes

5 with the opportunities of such children for basic edu6 cation. Furthermore, where it coexists with high

7 rates of adult unemployment, the use of child labor

8 likely denies gainful employment to millions of

9 adults.

10 (9) While child labor is a vast, complex, and

11 multifaceted phenomenon that is tied to issues of

12 poverty, educational opportunity, and culture, its

13 most abusive and hazardous forms are repugnant to

14 basic human rights and must be eliminated.

15 SEC. 3. IDENTIFICATION OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES AND IN16 DUSTRIES THAT USE CHILD LABOR IN PRO17 DUCING GOODS.

18 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES AND INDUS19 TRIES.—The Secretary of Labor shall, not later than 6

20 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, and

21 not later than the end of each 1-year period thereafter,

22 identify those foreign countries that do not prohibit child

23 labor, or that have laws prohibiting child labor but do not

24 effectively enforce them, and those industries in such

25 countries in which child labor is used. The Secretary may
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1 revoke the identification of a country or an industry before

2 the end of the 1-year period during which the identifica3 tion would otherwise be effective, if revocation is war4 ranted by new information or a change in the laws or prac5 tices of a country.

6 (b) SANCTIONS.—The sanctions set forth in sections

7 4 and 5 shall apply with respect to those countries and

8 industries identified under subsection (a) for so long as

9 the identification is effective under such subsection.

10 (c) EXEMPTION.—The prohibition on imports under

11 section 4(a), the prohibition under section 5(a)(1) on fi12 nancing under the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, and

13 the prohibition on multilateral assistance under section

14 5(a)(2) shall not apply to a business entity if it is estab15 lished to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Labor that

16 no goods produced by that entity are products of child

17 labor.

18 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON IMPORTS.

19 (a) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary of the Treasury

20 shall prohibit the entry of any manufactured article that

21 is a product of an industry identified under section 3(a).

22 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to

23 the entry of a manufactured article—

24 (1) that is entered under any subheading in

25 subchapter IV or VI of chapter 98 (relating to per-
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1 sonal exemptions) of the Harmonized Tariff Sched2 ule of the United States; or

3 (2) that was exported from the foreign country

4 in which the industry concerned is located and was

5 en route to the United States before the first day on

6 which the identification of the country and industry

7 was effective.

8 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE FOR FOREIGN COUN9 TRIES THAT USE CHILD LABOR IN PRODUC10 ING GOODS.

11 (a) PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE.—

12 (1) BILATERAL ASSISTANCE.—The President

13 may not provide United States assistance to a for14 eign country identified by the Secretary of Labor

15 under section 3(a).

16 (2) MULTILATERAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec17 retary of the Treasury shall instruct the United

18 States Executive Director of each international fi19 nancial institution to use the voice and vote of the

20 United States to oppose any loan or other utilization

21 of the funds of their respective institution to or for

22 any industry identified by the Secretary of Labor

23 under section 3(a).

24 (b) EXCEPTION.—A foreign country or an industry

25 identified by the Secretary of Labor under section 3(a)
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1 may receive United States assistance if the President de2 termines and certifies to the Congress that it is in the

3 vital national interest of the United States to provide such

4 assistance to such country or industry, as the case may

5 be. The President shall include in any such certification—

6 (1) a full and complete description of the vital

7 national interest of the United States that is placed

8 at risk if such assistance is not provided to such

9 country or industry; and

10 (2) a statement weighing the risk described in

11 paragraph (1) against the risk posed to the vital na12 tional interest of the United States by the failure of

13 such country to adopt or enforce laws prohibiting

14 child labor or by the use of child labor by such in15 dustry, as the case may be.

16 SEC. 6. PENALTIES.

17 (a) UNLAWFUL ACTS.—It is unlawful—

18 (1) to attempt to enter any manufactured arti19 cle that is a product of an industry if the entry is

20 prohibited under section 4(a); or

21 (2) to violate any regulation prescribed under

22 section 7.

23 (b) CIVIL PENALTY.—Any person who commits any

24 unlawful act set forth in subsection (a) is liable for a civil

25 penalty of not to exceed $25,000.
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1 (c) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—In addition to being liable

2 for a civil penalty under subsection (b), any person who

3 intentionally commits any unlawful act set forth in sub4 section (a) is, upon conviction, liable for a fine of not less

5 than $10,000 and not more than $35,000, or imprison6 ment for not more than 1 year, or both.

7 (d) CONSTRUCTION.—The violations set forth in sub8 section (a) shall be treated as violations of the customs

9 laws for purposes of applying the enforcement provisions

10 of the Tariff Act of 1930, including—

11 (1) the search, seizure, and forfeiture provi12 sions;

13 (2) section 592 (relating to penalties for entry

14 by fraud, gross negligence, or negligence); and

15 (3) section 619 (relating to compensation to in16 formers).

17 SEC. 7. REGULATIONS.

18 The President shall issue such regulations as are nec19 essary to carry out this Act.

20 SEC. 8. UNITED STATES SUPPORT FOR DEVELOPMENTAL

21 ALTERNATIVES FOR UNDERAGE CHILD

22 WORKERS.

23 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Presi24 dent the sum of $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1997

25 through 2001 for a United States contribution to the
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1 International Labor Organization for the activities of the

2 International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor.

3 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

4 As used in this Act:

5 (1) CHILD LABOR.—The term ‘‘child labor’’

6 means—

7 (A) services performed by an individual

8 who has not attained the age at which children

9 complete compulsory schooling under the na10 tional laws of the country concerned, or the age

11 of 15, whichever age is older, except for services

12 performed on a part-time basis by an individual

13 14 years of age or older that does not interfere

14 with the individual’s health or education, and

15 (B) services performed by an individual

16 under the age of 18 that would likely jeopardize

17 the health, safety, or moral character of a

18 young person,

19 in exchange for remuneration (regardless to whom

20 paid), subsistence, goods or services, or any com21 bination thereof, or under circumstances tantamount

22 to involuntary servitude.

23 (2) PRODUCT OF CHILD LABOR.—A manufac24 tured article shall be treated as being a product of

25 child labor if the article—
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1 (A) was fabricated, assembled, or proc2 essed, in whole or part,

3 (B) contains any part that was fabricated,

4 assembled, or processed, in whole or in part, or

5 (C) was mined, quarried, pumped, or oth6 erwise extracted,

7 with child labor.

8 (3) ENTERED AND ENTRY.—The terms ‘‘en9 tered’’ and ‘‘entry’’ mean entry, or withdrawal from

10 warehouse for consumption, in the customs territory

11 of the United States.

12 (4) BUSINESS ENTITY.—The term ‘‘business

13 entity’’—

14 (A) means any entity that produces a man15 ufactured article in a foreign country; and

16 (B) includes, but is not limited to, entities

17 owned or controlled in whole or in part by the

18 government of a foreign country.

19 (5) FOREIGN COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘foreign

20 country’’ means any foreign country and any posses21 sion or territory of a foreign country that is admin22 istered separately for customs purposes (and in23 cludes any designated zone within such country, pos24 session, or territory).
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1 (6) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITU2 TION.—The term ‘‘international financial institu3 tion’’ means the International Bank for Reconstruc4 tion and Development, the International Develop5 ment Association, the Multilateral Investment Guar6 antee Agency, the Inter-American Development

7 Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African De8 velopment Bank, the African Development Fund, the

9 International Monetary Fund, the European Bank

10 for Reconstruction and Development, and the Inter11 national Finance Corporation.

12 (7) MANUFACTURED ARTICLE.—The term

13 ‘‘manufactured article’’ means any good that is fab14 ricated, assembled, or processed. The term also in15 cludes any mineral resource (including any mineral

16 fuel) that is entered in a crude state. Any mineral

17 resource that at entry has been subjected to only

18 washing, crushing, grinding, powdering, levigation,

19 sifting, screening, or concentration by flotation,

20 magnetic separation, or other mechanical or physical

21 processes shall be treated as having been processed

22 for the purposes of this Act.

23 (8) UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE.—The term

24 ‘‘United States assistance’’ means—
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1 (A) any assistance under the Foreign As2 sistance Act of 1961 (including programs under

3 title IV of chapter 2 of part I of such Act, re4 lating to the Overseas Private Investment Cor5 poration), other than—

6 (i) disaster relief assistance, including

7 any assistance under chapter 9 of part I of

8 such Act;

9 (ii) assistance which involves the pro10 vision of food (including monetization of

11 food) or medicine; and

12 (iii) assistance for refugees;

13 (B) sales, or financing on any terms, under

14 the Arms Export Control Act;

15 (C) the provision of agricultural commod16 ities, other than food, under the Agricultural

17 Trade Development and Assistance Act of

18 1954; and

19 (D) financing under the Export-Import

20 Bank Act of 1945.

21 (9) UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO A FOREIGN

22 COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘United States assistance to a

23 foreign country’’ includes any sales, financing, or

24 other assistance described in subsection (8) to or for

25 programs, projects, business ventures, or other ac-
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1 tivities in the foreign country, whether or not such

2 assistance is received by the government of the for3 eign country.

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