U.S. Labor Department Issues Fifth Annual Report on Child Labor
In Trade Beneficiary Countries

Report Required Under the Trade and Development Act

WASHINGTON — The Labor Department today released its fifth annual report on the worst forms of child labor in 137 countries and territories that receive U.S. trade benefits.

"The United States believes that all people can benefit from the opportunities created by free trade and globalization," said James Carter, deputy undersecretary for international labor affairs for the U.S. Department of Labor. "Yet a free market can only operate efficiently when it is supported by protections for workers, including protections from the worst forms of child labor."

The department's Bureau of International Labor Affairs prepared The Department of Labor's 2005 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor under the child labor reporting requirement of the Trade and Development Act of 2000. The act requires trade-beneficiary countries and territories to implement their international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

As defined by International Labor Organization Convention 182, the worst forms of child labor include any form of slavery, such as forced or indentured child labor; the trafficking of children and the forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; child prostitution and pornography; the use of children for illicit activities in particular the trafficking of drugs; and work that is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.

The report presents information on the nature and extent of the problem in each of these 137 countries and territories and the efforts being made by their governments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

The bureau's International Child Labor Program collected data from a wide variety of sources, including U.S. embassies and consulates, foreign governments, nongovernmental organizations, and international agencies. In addition, bureau staff conducted field visits to certain countries covered in the report.

The report is available at http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/media/reports/iclp/main.htm. Beginning November 2006, printed copies of the report will be available from the International Child Labor Program, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-5307, 200 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-4843; Fax (202) 693-4830; E-mail: GlobalKids@dol.gov.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.