TANZANIA: NO EVIDENCE OF FORCED OR CHILD LABOR IN THE

UNCLAS DAR ES SALAAM 000413 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DOL ILAB FOR RRIGBY DEPT DRL/ILCSR FOR MMITTELHAUSER ALSO G/TIP FOR SSTEINER, AF/E FOR JLIDDLE NAIROBI FOR REGIONAL LABOR OFFICER JUSTICE ICITAP FOR EBEINHART, OPDAT FOR JSILVERWOOD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM ELAB ETRD SOCI TZ SUBJECT: TANZANIA: NO EVIDENCE OF FORCED OR CHILD LABOR IN THE PRODUCTION OF GOODS REF: STATE 043120 ¶1. (U) Post has neither record nor evidence of the use of child labor or forced labor in the production of goods in Tanzania. ¶2. (SBU) According to ILO and ILO-IPEC officials in Dar es Salaam, quantifiable evidence of child or forced labor in the production of goods in Tanzania is difficult to establish. While rumors have circulated that minors may be used as "snake boys" for the mining of tanzanite, neither ILO nor post has evidence to verify reports of child or forced labor in the mining or cutting of tanzanite or the use of child and/or forced labor in the production of other goods. ¶3. (SBU) We note that USG-funded programs in FY 2006-07 to reduce trafficking in persons (TIP),including the International Office of Migration's (IOM) awareness raising campaigns, and nation-wide programs in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar by the U.S. Department of Justice to train police, immigration and state prosecutors in anti-TIP measures, have had the added effect to raise awareness about forced and child labor. In addition, the Parliament of Tanzania passed a new, comprehensive anti-TIP law in April 2008. In urban areas, public opinion has swung to consider it to be unacceptable to utilize child or forced labor for services or in the production of goods. ¶4. (U) Since May 2007, programs funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and implemented by the non-governmental organization, Winrock, have been underway in many rural areas of Tanzania to spread the message that neither child nor forced labor be tolerated in agricultural work. ¶5. (U) Tanzanian law establishes 14 years as the minimum age for employment. Eligible children can only be employed to do light work not considered harmful to their health and development. The law also stipulates that children less than 18 years cannot be crew members on a ship, be employed in a mine, factory, or any other worksite, including informal settings and agriculture, where work conditions may be considered hazardous. ¶6. (U) Tanzania has ratified all eight ILO core labor conventions including on the elimination of forced or compulsory labor, and on abolition of child and forced labor. Tanzania ratified both Convention 138 (Minimum Age Convention, 1973) and Convention 182 (Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention, 1999). Tanzania also ratified ILO Convention 29 (Forced Labor convention, 1930) and Convention 105 (Abolition of Forced Labor Convention, 1957). Tanzania's 2004 Employment and Labor Relations Act and the Labor Institutions Act both provide for the protection of children from exploitation in the workplace and prohibit forced or compulsory labor. GREEN