Child Labor in Global Supply Chains: How Are Your Source Countries Doing?

An annual report that companies use as an input into risk assessments and to conduct due diligence on their supply chains shows that most of the 131 countries and territories reviewed are continuing to make progress toward eliminating the worst forms of child labor. Doing so is one of the criteria for eligibility for trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences, the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act, and the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Companies are also paying more attention to this issue in the face of increasing efforts by federal agencies to enforce prohibitions against imports made with child labor and forced labor.

The report from the Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs tracks whether a country has made significant, moderate, minimal, or no advancement in eliminating the worst forms of child labor. It also includes nearly 1,900 country-specific recommended actions on how best to combat labor abuses.

For 2023, as noted in the chart below, six countries received an assessment of significant advancement, 63 achieved moderate advancement, 47 made minimal advancement, and 13 saw no advancement. (Countries with a + moved up this year, those with a – moved down, and the remainder saw no change.)

ILAB has also made updates to the following related online tools.

– the Comply Chain website, which offers businesses detailed guidance for developing worker-driven social compliance systems in global supply chains and preventing labor abuses in the production of goods

– the Sweat & Toil app, which supplies information on goods produced by child or forced labor and helps users identify regional trends in eliminating child labor, view goods produced with exploitative labor by region and industry, and analyze the use of child labor by industry and country

– the Better Trade Tool, which overlays international trade data on the list of goods produced by child or forced labor and highlights U.S. imports at higher risk of being produced using such labor. 

Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg offers a comprehensive suite of services to help companies address child and forced labor concerns around the world, including supply chain reviews, due diligence strategies, and proactive remediation. ST&R also maintains a frequently updated web page offering a broad range of information on forced labor-related efforts in the U.S. and around the world. For more information, please contact ST&R at supplychainvisibility@strtrade.com.