DRC RESPONSE TO TVPRA DRAFT LIST OF GOODS

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000083 SIPDIS PASS TO DOL/ILAB (RRIGBY) DEPT FOR DRL/ILCSR (MMITTELHAUSER) DEPT FOR G/TIP (SSTEINER) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI KTIP CG SUBJECT: DRC RESPONSE TO TVPRA DRAFT LIST OF GOODS REF: (A) SECSTATE 3075 (B) KINSHASA 51 (C) 08 KINSHASA 629 ¶1. (U) In response to the TVPRA action request (Ref A),Post does not have any new information that clearly demonstrates child labor is no longer used in the production of copper, cobalt, coltan, gold, and diamonds. As per Ref B, children under the age of eighteen continue to work as artisanal miners in the southern, central, and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In addition to the goods cited in the DOL's draft list of goods, children are sometimes used in the mining of wolframite (tungsten ore) and cassiterite (tin ore) in the eastern provinces (Ref C). ¶2. (U) Though GDRC efforts to support its new National Committee to Combat the Worst Forms of Child Labor (NCCL) have increased over the last year, the government lacks the resources and capacity necessary to enforce child labor laws. Many mining companies, including U.S.-based Freeport McMoRan, operate in the DRC with strict protections against child labor and several NGOs are working to address the socio-economic causes of the problem. The vast majority of goods produced using child labor in the DRC exit the country via the informal market, however, and is therefore difficult to track or prevent. GARVELINK