I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2677
To impose certain sanctions on countries that do not prohibit child labor.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 21, 1997
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. HYDE, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. MORAN
of Virginia, Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr.
SANDERS, Mr. MILLER of California, and Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Inter-
national Relations, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and
Means, and Banking and Financial Services, for a period to be subse-
quently 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.
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 ‘‘International Child
Labor Elimination Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Article 32 of the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child recognizes ‘‘the right of
the child to be protected from economic exploitation
and from performing any work that is likely to be
hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education
or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical,
mental, spiritual, moral or social development.’’.
(2) Article 2 of Convention 138 of the Inter-
national Labor Organization, the Minimum Age
Convention, states that the minimum age for admis-
sion to employment or work ‘‘shall not be less than
the age of completion of compulsory schooling and,
in any case, shall not be less than 15 years.’’.
(3) Convention 29 of International Labor Orga-
nization, the Forced Labor Convention, which has
been in effect since 1930, prohibits most forms of
‘‘forced or compulsory labor’’, including all forced
labor by people under the age of 18.
(4) Although it is among the most universally
condemned of all human rights abuses, child labor is
widely practiced. The International Labor Organiza-
tion and the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) have estimated the total number of child
workers 
to 
be 
between 
200,000,000 
and
labor, or that have laws prohibiting child labor but do not
effectively enforce them, and those industries in such
countries in which goods are produced or services provided
with the use of child labor. The Secretary may revoke the
identification of a country or an industry before the end
of the 1-year period during which the identification would
otherwise be effective, if revocation is warranted by new
information or a change in the laws or practices of a coun-
try.
(b) SANCTIONS.—The sanctions set forth in sections
4 and 5 shall apply with respect to those countries and
industries identified under subsection (a) for so long as
the identification is effective under such subsection.
(c) EXEMPTION.—The prohibition on imports under
section 4(a), the prohibition under section 5(a)(1)(B) on
activities of the Export-Import Bank of the United States,
the prohibition under section 5(a)(1)(C) on activities of
the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the pro-
hibition on multilateral assistance under section 5(a)(2)
shall not apply with respect to a business entity if it is
established to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Labor
that no goods produced by that entity are products of child
labor and that the business entity does not otherwise use
child labor.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON IMPORTS.
(a) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary of the Treasury
shall prohibit the entry of any manufactured article that
is a product of an industry identified under section 3(a).
(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to
the entry of a manufactured article—
(1) that is entered under any subheading in
subchapter IV or VI of chapter 98 (relating to per-
sonal exemptions) of the Harmonized Tariff Sched-
ule of the United States; or
(2) that was exported from the foreign country
in which the industry concerned is located and was
en route to the United States before the first day on
which the identification of the country and industry
was effective.
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE FOR FOREIGN COUN-
TRIES THAT USE CHILD LABOR IN PRODUC-
ING GOODS.
(a) PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE.—
(1) BILATERAL ASSISTANCE.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (C), the President may not provide to a
foreign country identified by the Secretary of
Labor under section 3(a)—
(i) any assistance under the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961, other than—
(I) disaster relief assistance, in-
cluding any assistance under chapter
9 of part I of such Act;
(II) assistance which involves the
provision of food (including monetiza-
tion of food) or medicine; and
(III) assistance for refugees;
(ii) sales, or financing on any terms,
under the Arms Export Control Act; or
(iii) the provision of agricultural com-
modities, other than food, under the Agri-
cultural Trade Development and Assist-
ance Act of 1954.
(B) EXPORT-IMPORT BANK.—The Export-
Import Bank of the United States may not give
approval to the issuance of any guarantee, in-
surance, extension of credit, or participation in
an extension of credit in connection with the
provision of any good or service to—
(i) the government of a foreign coun-
try identified by the Secretary of Labor
under section 3(a), or an agency of such
government; or
(ii) a business entity that is in an in-
dustry identified by the Secretary of Labor
under section 3(a) in such a country.
(C) OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT COR-
PORATION.—(i) The Overseas Private Invest-
ment Corporation may not issue insurance, re-
insurance, or financing, or conduct other activi-
ties, in connection with an industry identified
by the Secretary of Labor under section 3(a).
(ii) Clause (i) does not affect contracts en-
tered into by the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation before the date of the enactment of
this Act.
(2) MULTILATERAL
ASSISTANCE.—The Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall instruct the United
States Executive Director of each international fi-
nancial institution to use the voice and vote of the
United States to oppose any loan or other use of the
funds of such institution to or for any industry iden-
tified by the Secretary of Labor under section 3(a).
(b) EXCEPTION.—A foreign country or an industry
identified by the Secretary of Labor under section 3(a)
may receive bilateral assistance described in subsection
(a)(1) if the President determines and certifies to the Con-
gress that it is in the vital national interest of the United
States to provide such bilateral assistance to such country
or industry, as the case may be. The President shall in-
clude in any such certification—
(1) a full and complete description of the vital
national interest of the United States that is placed
at risk if such assistance is not provided to such
country or industry; and
(2) a statement weighing the risk described in
paragraph (1) against the risk posed to the vital na-
tional interest of the United States by the failure of
such country to adopt or enforce laws prohibiting
child labor or by the use of child labor by such in-
dustry, as the case may be.
SEC. 6. PENALTIES.
(a) UNLAWFUL ACTS.—It is unlawful—
(1) to attempt to enter any manufactured arti-
cle that is a product of an industry if the entry is
prohibited under section 4(a); 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) is, upon conviction, liable for a fine of not less
than $10,000 and not more than $35,000, or imprison-
ment 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
(3) section 619 (relating to compensation to in-
formers).
SEC. 7. REGULATIONS.
The President shall issue such regulations as are nec-
essary to carry out this Act.
SEC. 8. UNITED STATES SUPPORT FOR DEVELOPMENTAL
ALTERNATIVES 
FOR 
UNDERAGE 
CHILD
WORKERS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Presi-
dent the sum of $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1999
through 2003 for a United States contribution to the
International Labor Organization for the activities of the
International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor.
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) CHILD
LABOR.—The term ‘‘child labor’’
means the performance of services in exchange for
remuneration (regardless of to whom paid), subsist-
ence, goods, or services, or any combination thereof,
or under circumstances tantamount to involuntary
servitude—
(A) by persons who have not attained the
minimum age, except for—
(i) light work by persons no more
than 2 years younger than the minimum
age that is not likely to harm their health
or development and which does not preju-
dice their attendance at school, their par-
ticipation in vocational orientation or
training programs approved by the com-
petent authority in the country concerned,
or their capacity to benefit from the in-
struction received,
(ii) work on family and small-scale ag-
ricultural holdings which grow or produce
products primarily for local consumption
and do not regularly employ hired workers,
(iii) work done by persons at least 14
years of age in schools or other training in-
stitutions for general, vocational, or tech-
nical education,
(iv) work done by persons at least 14
years of age as an integral part of a pro-
gram of education, training, or occupa-
tional guidance carried out in accordance
with conditions prescribed by the com-
petent authority in the country concerned,
and
(v) participation in artistic perform-
ances pursuant to permits granted in indi-
vidual cases by the competent authority in
the country concerned; and
(B) by persons under the age of 18 if such
services would likely jeopardize the health, safe-
ty, or moral character of a young person, except
for the performance of such services by individ-
uals at least 16 years of age where—
(i) the country concerned has ex-
pressly authorized such employment by na-
tional laws or regulation;
(ii) the health, safety, and morals of
the individuals involved are fully protected;
and
(iii) the individuals involved have re-
ceived adequate specific instruction or vo-
cational training in the relevant branch of
activity.
(2) MINIMUM AGE.—The term ‘‘minimum age’’
means the age at which children complete compul-
sory schooling under the national laws of the coun-
try concerned, or the age of 15, whichever is older,
except that when a country whose economy and edu-
cational facilities are insufficiently developed has
specified, pursuant to an international agreement, a
minimum age of 14 years for a period of limited and
specifically identified duration, the term ‘‘minimum
age’’ means the age of 14 years during that period.
(3) PRODUCT OF CHILD LABOR.—A good shall
be treated as being a product of child labor if the
good—
(A) was fabricated, assembled, or proc-
essed, in whole or part,
(B) contains any part that was fabricated,
assembled, or processed, in whole or in part, or
(C) was grown, harvested, mined, quarried,
pumped, or otherwise extracted,
with child labor.
(4) 
MANUFACTURED
ARTICLE.—The 
term
‘‘manufactured article’’ means any good that is fab-
ricated, assembled, or processed. The term also in-
cludes any mineral resource (including any mineral
fuel) that is entered in a crude state. Any mineral
resource that at entry has been subjected to only
washing, crushing, grinding, powdering, levigation,
sifting, screening, or concentration by flotation,
magnetic separation, or other mechanical or physical
processes shall be treated as having been processed
for the purposes of this Act.
(5) BUSINESS
ENTITY.—The term ‘‘business
entity’’—
(A) means any entity that produces (in-
cluding fabricating, assembling, processing,
growing, harvesting, mining, quarrying, pump-
ing, or otherwise extracting), sells, imports, ex-
ports, or contracts for the production of, a good
in a foreign country; and
(B) includes, but is not limited to, entities
owned or controlled in whole or in part by the
government of a foreign country.
(6) FOREIGN
COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘foreign
country’’ means any foreign country and any posses-
sion or territory of a foreign country that is admin-
istered separately for customs purposes (and in-
cludes any designated zone within such country, pos-
session, or territory).
(7) 
INTERNATIONAL
FINANCIAL
INSTITU-
TION.—The term ‘‘international financial institu-
tion’’ has the meaning given that term in section
1701(c)(2) of the International Financial Institu-
tions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(2)).
Æ