COMMENTS ON THE CHILD LABOR DRAFT LIST FOR TVPRA

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 000275 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/27/2019 TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL ECON SOCI CO SUBJECT: COMMENTS ON THE CHILD LABOR DRAFT LIST FOR TVPRA REF: A. SECSTATE 3075 ¶B. BOGOTA 2261 Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) This is a response to the request for comment on the Department of Labor's (DOL) draft list of goods from counties that the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) has reason to believe are produced by forced labor or child labor in violation of international standards. Post concurs with DOL that the goods listed are sometimes produced by child labor, but notes that the incidence is low, and occurs almost exclusively in the informal sector or industries that are already criminalized under existing Colombian law. ¶2. (C) In the case of Colombia, DOL lists: Bricks (clay) - Child Labor Coal - Child Labor Coca (stimulant plant) - Child Labor and Forced Labor Coffee - Child Labor Emeralds - Child Labor Gold - Child Labor Pornography - Child Labor Sugarcane - Child Labor ¶2. (C) As per reftel b, post notes that in the formal sector--where the vast majority of the clay, coal, coffee, emeralds, gold and sugarcane are produced--child labor is not used. The informal, family-based, artisanal mines and farms are where child labor is almost exclusively found, according to International Labor Organization National Coordinator for the International Program to Eliminate Child Labor Liliana Obregon. Colombian economists estimate, for example, that only 1-3% of all coal, gold, clay and emeralds produced in Colombia comes from the informal sector. Post agrees with DOL's finding that some child labor continues to occur in the illegal cultivation of coca as well as the pornography industry. BROWNFIELD