ACCRA RESPONSE RE UPDATE OF E.O. 13126 LIST

C O N F I D E N T I A L ACCRA 000821 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/W, DRL AND EB NSC FOR MICHELE GAVINS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/19/2029 TAGS: PREL PHUM ELAB GH SUBJECT: ACCRA RESPONSE RE UPDATE OF E.O. 13126 LIST REF: A. STATE 80911 ¶B. ACCRA-DOL EMAILS (8/7-18/09) ¶C. ACCRA-DOL TELCON (8/20/09) Classified By: Ambassador Donald Teitelbaum for reason 1.4 (d) ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph 4. ¶2. (C) Ref A seeks Embassy concurrence for the Department of Labor's listing of Ghanaian cocoa and tilapia as products produced with forced or indentured child labor, which would trigger certification requirements per E.O. 13126. Post regrets that it cannot concur at this time. We believe that listing these items as forced child labor products will have a major detrimental affect on U.S.-Ghana bilateral relations, and potentially have serious negative economic consequences for Ghana. ¶3. (C) Embassy Accra appreciates DOL's willingness to discuss this issue with post (refs B and C),and we would welcome the opportunity for further dialogue. There remain a number of issues for which we seek further clarification: -- What standards are being used to deem a product a forced child labor product? Are standards being compared across industries and countries to ensure consistency? -- What is the threshold percentage that triggers a determination that a product can be characterized as produced with child labor across an industry? -- What efforts are being made to ensure that countries such as Ghana are not penalized for cooperation and transparency with regard to child labor issues? In practice, it appears that Ghana is being cited because it cooperated with the Tulane study, a result of which is that there is data on Ghana's cocoa sector. -- Under E.O. 13126, what constitutes a "good faith" effort to determine whether forced or indentured child labor was used to produce a product on the list? ¶4. (SBU) Post requests AF and DRL engagement to ensure full interagency coordination on this issue, and that the policy consequences are fully considered. TEITELBAUM