I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1328
To prohibit the importation of goods produced abroad with child labor, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 15, 1997
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means, 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 prohibit the importation of goods produced abroad with
child labor, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Labor Deter-
rence Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS, PURPOSE, AND POLICY.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) Principle 9 of the Declaration of the Rights
of the Child proclaimed by the General Assembly of
the United Nations on November 20, 1959, states
that ‘‘. . . the child shall not be admitted to employ-
ment before an appropriate minimum age; he shall
in no case be caused or permitted to engage in any
occupation or employment which would prejudice his
health or education, or interfere with his physical,
mental, or moral development . . .’’.
(2) Article 2 of the International Labor Con-
vention No. 138 Concerning Minimum Age For Ad-
mission to Employment states that, ‘‘The minimum
age specified in pursuance of paragraph 1 of this ar-
ticle shall not be less than the age of compulsory
schooling and, in any case, shall not be less than 15
years.’’.
(3) According to the International Labor Orga-
nization, worldwide an estimated 200,000,000 chil-
dren under the age of 15 are working, many of them
in dangerous industries like mining and fireworks.
(4) Children under the age of 15 constitute ap-
proximately 11 percent of the workforce in some
Asian countries, 17 percent in parts of Africa, and
a reported 12 to 26 percent in many countries in
Latin America.
(5) The number of children under the age of 15
who are working, and the scale of their suffering, in-
crease every year, despite the existence of more than
20 International Labor Organization conventions on
child labor and laws in many countries which pur-
portedly prohibit the employment of underage chil-
dren.
(6) In many countries, children under the age
of 15 lack either the legal standing or means to pro-
tect themselves from exploitation in the workplace.
(7) The prevalence of child labor in many devel-
oping countries is rooted in widespread poverty that
is attributable to unemployment and underem-
ployment, precarious incomes, low living standards,
and insufficient education and training opportunities
among adult workers.
(8) The employment of children under the age
of 15 commonly deprives the children of the oppor-
tunity for basic education and also denies gainful
employment to millions of adults.
(9) The employment of children under the age
of 15, often at pitifully low wages, undermines the
stability of families and ignores the importance of
increasing jobs, aggregated demand, and purchasing
power among adults as a catalyst to the development
of internal markets and the achievement of broad-
based, self-reliant economic development in many de-
veloping countries.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to curtail
the employment of children under the age of 15 in the
production of goods for export by—
(1) eliminating the role of the United States in
providing a market for foreign products made by un-
derage children;
(2) supporting activities and programs to ex-
tend primary education, rehabilitation, and alter-
native skills training to underage child workers, to
improve birth registration, and to improve the scope
and quality of statistical information and research
on the commercial exploitation of children in the
workplace; and
(3) encouraging other nations to join in a ban
on trade in products described in paragraph (1) and
to support those activities and programs described in
paragraph (2).
(c) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States—
(1) to discourage actively the employment of
children under the age of 15 in the production of
goods for export or domestic consumption;
(2) to strengthen and supplement international
trading rules with a view to renouncing the use of
underage children in production as a means of com-
peting in international trade;
(3) to prohibit the entry into the United States
of products resulting from the labor of underage
children; and
(4) to offer assistance to foreign countries to
improve the enforcement of national laws prohibiting
the employment of children under the age of 15 and
to increase assistance to alleviate the underlying
poverty that is often the cause of the commercial ex-
ploitation of children under the age of 15.
SEC. 3. UNITED STATES INITIATIVE TO CURTAIL INTER-
NATIONAL TRADE IN PRODUCTS OF CHILD
LABOR.
In pursuit of the policy set forth in this Act, the
President is urged to seek an agreement with governments
that conduct trade with the United States for the purpose
of securing an international ban on trade in the products
of child labor.
SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION OF FOREIGN INDUSTRIES AND
THEIR RESPECTIVE HOST COUNTRIES THAT
UTILIZE CHILD LABOR IN EXPORT OF GOODS.
(a) IDENTIFICATION
OF INDUSTRIES
AND HOST
COUNTRIES.—The Secretary of Labor (hereafter in this
section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall undertake
periodic reviews using all available information, including
information made available by the International Labor Or-
ganization and human rights organizations (the first such
review to be undertaken not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of the Act), to identify any foreign
industry that—
(1) does not comply with the applicable national
laws prohibiting child labor in the workplace;
(2) utilizes child labor in the export of products;
and
(3) has on a continuing basis exported to the
United States manufactured articles that are prod-
ucts of child labor.
For purposes of this Act, the identification of a foreign
industry shall be treated as also being an identification
of the host country in which the foreign industry is lo-
cated.
(b) PETITIONS REQUESTING IDENTIFICATION.—
(1) FILING.—Any person may file a petition
with the Secretary requesting that a particular for-
eign industry and its host country be identified
under subsection (a). The petition must set forth the
allegations in support of the request.
(2) ACTION
ON
RECEIPT
OF
PETITION.—Not
later than 180 days after receiving a petition under
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—
(A) decide whether or not the allegations
in the petition warrant further action by the
Secretary in regard to the foreign industry and
its host country under subsection (a); and
(B) notify the petitioner of the decision
under subparagraph (A) and the facts and rea-
sons supporting the decision.
(c) CONSULTATION AND COMMENT.—Prior to identi-
fying a foreign industry and its host country under sub-
section (a), the Secretary shall—
(1) consult with the United States Trade Rep-
resentative, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of
Commerce, and the Secretary of the Treasury re-
garding such action;
(2) hold at least 1 public hearing within a rea-
sonable time for the receipt of oral comment from
the public regarding such a proposed identification;
(3) publish notice in the Federal Register—
(A) that such an identification is being
considered;
(B) of the time and place of the hearing
scheduled under paragraph (2); and
(C) inviting the submission within a rea-
sonable time of written comment from the pub-
lic; and
(4) take into account the information obtained
under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3).
(d) REVOCATION OF IDENTIFICATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),
the Secretary may revoke the identification of any
foreign industry and its host country under sub-
section (a) if information available to the Secretary
indicates that such action is appropriate.
(2) REPORT
OF
SECRETARY.—No revocation
under paragraph (1) may take effect earlier than the
60th day after the date on which the Secretary sub-
mits to the Congress a written report—
(A) stating that in the opinion of the Sec-
retary the foreign industry and host country
concerned do not utilize child labor in the ex-
port of products; and
(B) stating the facts on which such opinion
is based and any other reason why the Sec-
retary considers the revocation appropriate.
(3) PROCEDURE.—No revocation under para-
graph (1) may take effect unless the Secretary—
(A) publishes notice in the Federal Reg-
ister that such a revocation is under consider-
ation and inviting the submission within a rea-
sonable time of oral and written comments from
the public on the revocation; and
(B) takes into account the information re-
ceived under subparagraph (A) before preparing
the report required under paragraph (2).
(e) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall—
(1) promptly publish in the Federal Register—
(A) the name of each foreign industry and
its host country identified under subsection (a);
(B) the text of each decision made under
subsection (b)(2)(A) and a statement of the
facts and reasons supporting the decision; and
(C) the name of each foreign industry and
its host country with respect to which an identi-
fication has been revoked under subsection (d);
and
(2) maintain in the Federal Register a current
list of all foreign industries and their respective host
countries identified under subsection (a).
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON ENTRY.
(a) PROHIBITION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), during the effective identification period
for a foreign industry and its host country the Sec-
retary may not permit the entry of any manufac-
tured article that is a product of that foreign indus-
try.
(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not
apply to the entry of a manufactured article—
(A) for which a certification that meets the
requirements of subsection (b) is provided and
the article, or the packaging in which it is of-
fered for sale, contains, in accordance with reg-
ulations prescribed by the Secretary, a label
stating that the article is not a product of child
labor;
(B) that is entered under any subheading
in subchapter IV or VI of chapter 98 (relating
to personal exemptions) of the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States; or
(C) that was exported from the foreign in-
dustry and its host country and was en route
to the United States before the first day of the
effective identification period for such industry
and its host country.
(b) CERTIFICATION THAT ARTICLE IS NOT A PROD-
UCT OF CHILD LABOR.—
(1) FORM AND CONTENT.—The Secretary shall
prescribe the form and content of documentation, for
submission in connection with the entry of a manu-
factured article, that satisfies the Secretary that the
exporter of the article in the host country, and the
importer of the article into the customs territory of
the United States, have undertaken reasonable steps
to ensure, to the extent practicable, that the article
is not a product of child labor.
(2) REASONABLE
STEPS.—For purposes of
paragraph (1), ‘‘reasonable steps’’ include—
(A) in the case of the exporter of an article
in the host country—
(i) having entered into a contract with
an organization described in paragraph (4)
in that country for allowing inspections for
the purpose of certifying that the article is
not a product of child labor, and that a
label, protected under the copyright or
trademark laws of the host country, that
contains such certification is affixed to the
article; and
(ii) having affixed to the article a
label described in clause (i); and
(B) in the case of the importer of an arti-
cle into the customs territory of the United
States, having required the certification and
label described in subparagraph (A) in the
agreement setting forth the terms and condi-
tions of the acquisition or provision of the im-
ported article.
(3) WRITTEN EVIDENCE.—The documentation
required by the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall
include written evidence that the reasonable steps
set forth in paragraph (2) have been taken.
(4) CERTIFYING
ORGANIZATIONS.—The Sec-
retary shall compile and maintain a list of independ-
ent professional, internationally credible organiza-
tions, in any host country identified under section 4,
that have been established for the purpose of con-
ducting inspections, certifying, and labelling that
manufactured articles to be exported from that
country are not products of child labor. Each such
organization may consist of, but not be limited to,
representatives of nongovernmental child welfare or-
ganizations, manufacturers, exporters, national gov-
ernments, and neutral international organizations.
SEC. 6. PENALTIES.
(a) UNLAWFUL ACTS.—It is unlawful—
(1) during the effective identification period ap-
plicable to a foreign industry and its host country,
to attempt to enter any manufactured article that is
a product of that industry if the entry is prohibited
under section 5(a)(1); or
(2) to violate any regulation prescribed under
section 7.
(b) CIVIL PENALTY.—Any person who commits any
unlawful act set forth in subsection (a) is liable for a civil
penalty of not to exceed $25,000.
(c) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—In addition to being liable
for a civil penalty under subsection (b), any person who
intentionally commits any unlawful act set forth in sub-
section (a) shall be fined in an amount of not less than
$10,000 and not more than $35,000, or imprisoned for
not more than 1 year, or both.
(d) CONSTRUCTION.—The violations set forth in sub-
section (a) shall be treated as violations of the customs
laws for purposes of applying the enforcement provisions
of the Tariff Act of 1930, including—
(1) the search, seizure, and forfeiture provi-
sions;
(2) section 592 (relating to penalties for entry
by fraud, gross negligence, or negligence); and