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DE RUEHBU #0304/01 0771315
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 181315Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3332
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
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RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 BUENOS AIRES 000304 
 
DOL FOR ILAB CHARITA CASTRO AND LEYLA STROTKAMP 
DEPT FOR DRL/ILCSR MARK MITTELHAUSER 
G/TIP FOR STEVE STEINER 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KTIP PHUM EAGR EINV ETRD SOCI AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: RESPONSE TO DOL LIST OF GOODS BELIEVED TO BE 
MADE WITH FORCED OR CHILD LABOR 
 
REF: A. STATE 16596 
 ¶B. STATE 1730 
 ¶C. BUENOS AIRES 0048 
 ¶D. 2/24/09 Castro-Gomez e-mail 
 
BUENOS AIR 00000304  001.2 OF 006 
 
 
¶1.  THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶2.  This is an action request.  See para 3. 
 
SUMMARY/COMMENT 
--------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Below please find post's response to ref A's request for 
additional information on the Department of Labor's list of goods 
believed to be made with forced or child labor.  Embassy queried the 
International Labor Organization (ILO), GOA, and NGO contacts for 
specific examples to back up claims of child and forced labor and 
found that their allegations are based on very few specific cases. 
ILO also praised cooperative public-private programs underway to 
eliminate child labor.  Based on our conversation with the ILO, post 
recommends that lemons should be removed from the list, as the 
overwhelming majority of the lemon harvest has been certified as 
free of forced and child labor for export to the EU.  According to 
our agro-industry contacts, sugar should also be taken off of the 
list, since the industry is highly mechanized.  As noted earlier, 
Post requests that the Department of Labor not cite the Embassy as a 
source when publishing its list, given host government sensitivities 
to this reporting.  The public sources cited in ref D should be used 
instead as post deems them more authoritative.  In addition, post 
would appreciate the Department of Labor providing advanced 
notification of the list's publication along with press guidance to 
use locally. 
 
 
BUENOS AIR 00000304  002.2 OF 006 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) We are also concerned that publication of the list as 
currently envisioned will be counterproductive, reinforcing deeply 
ingrained Argentine views about U.S. unilateralism and didacticism 
and provoking the GOA into a counterproductive withdrawal of its 
cooperation with us on the eradication of forced and child labor. 
Prior to the publication of this list, we believe that the 
interagency community should consider whether this new round of 
diplomacy by report card is truly effective in reaching our goal of 
a world free of forced and child labor.  Instead of singling out 
developing countries like Argentina for problems they are trying to 
address, the USG should take steps to increase significantly 
bilateral assistance to strengthen efforts to combat the problem. 
Even if we need to publish such a list, we should 1) find a way to 
recognize efforts governments are making to end these practices; and 
2) offer assistance programs to willing governments.  Absent this, 
we may well just perpetuate the image of a nagging, rich Uncle Sam 
who is unwilling to really help fix the problem.  End 
Summary/Comment. 
 
AGRO-INDUSTRY CONTACTS: CHILD LABOR OCCURS BUT OUTSIDE 
OF SCHOOL HOURS 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In reviewing the sources found in ref D, we noted that the 
sources indicated a significant incidence of child labor in 
agricultural production including: yerba, garlic, blueberries, 
cotton, grapes, lemons, olives, sugar, strawberries, tobacco, and 
tomatoes.  According to agro-industry contacts, children in rural 
areas of Argentina are involved in the production and harvesting of 
many crops, but it is questionable whether that involvement should 
be considered significant, or whether it should be considered child 
labor.  These contacts maintain that many children work in the 
harvest alongside their families outside of school hours or during 
their summer vacation, much like many children in the United States 
 
BUENOS AIR 00000304  003.2 OF 006 
 
 
have done for decades. In particular, sugar industry contacts assert 
that child labor is not a problem in their industry, as 85 percent 
of the sugar harvest is fully mechanized, 14 percent is 
semi-mechanized, and only one percent is fully manual. 
 
ILO: SIGNIFICANT INCIDENCE OF CHILD LABOR IN AG SECTOR 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) ILO official Gustavo Ponce, however, maintains that child 
labor is prevalent in the production of most agricultural goods, 
although he acknowledged that there are no comprehensive statistics 
on the matter.  Embassy notes that ILO, GOA (which only admits to 
the incidence of child labor in the tomato and strawberry 
industries), and NGO claims of child and forced labor are based on 
very few specific cases and lack credible, serious substantiation. 
Post is pressing these organizations for specific examples to back 
up their allegations.  Ponce explained that in the ILO's work to 
prevent and eradicate child labor with the Argentine Ministry of 
Labor's National Commission to Eradicate Child Labor (CONAETI) and 
its provincial counterparts (COPRETIs), many COPRETIs have conducted 
field studies to determine the incidence of child labor in 
agricultural production.  Although these studies have not quantified 
the number of child laborers working in a particular industry, they 
have found that a significant amount of child labor takes place in 
the production of bricks and the agricultural goods listed in ref D. 
 Ponce said, however, that there was not a significant incidence of 
child labor in lemons, since the overwhelming majority of the lemon 
harvest has been certified as free of forced and child labor as a 
condition of their export to the European Union. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Ponce claimed that child laborers worked for farms owned 
by third parties during school hours.  He mentioned that part of the 
reason why children worked on these farms is because the 
agricultural sector pays by the bushel instead of per hour, thus 
 
BUENOS AIR 00000304  004.2 OF 006 
 
 
creating an incentive for an entire family, including children, to 
assist with the harvest.  He also mentioned that many of the people 
who work on these farms are migrant laborers with few social 
resources in the communities where they work that would enable them 
to drop off their children with relatives or friends for childcare. 
As a result, these families choose to bring their children to the 
farms where they put them to work.  Ponce also noted a widespread 
social and cultural acceptance of child labor in certain regional 
agricultural economies.  He claimed that in Jujuy province (which 
borders Bolivia in the northwest of Argentina), they've encountered 
cases where teachers were marking children as "present" when in 
fact, the children were working on the harvest. 
 
ILO PRAISES GOA EFFORTS TO ERADICATE CHILD LABOR 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Ponce noted the excellent ongoing cooperation between the 
ILO, CONAETI, and the COPRETIs.  He praised CONAETI's public-private 
partnership to advance policies to eliminate child labor. 
Established in 2007, the Corporate Network for the Eradication of 
Child Labor includes 63 prominent Argentine companies, including the 
tobacco and cotton chambers of industry.  The Network, along with 
CONAETI and the Ministry of Labor, meet every two months to discuss 
its development plan.  In November 2008, CONAETI, the Ministry of 
Labor, and the Network organized a conference on "The Role of the 
Media in the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labor."  The ILO is 
presenting the initiative as a best practice in an upcoming regional 
conference in Uruguay in the hopes of implementing the initiative 
elsewhere in the region.  More information can be found at: 
http://www.trabajo.gov.ar/ 
conaeti/institucional/ 
infantil.htm 
 
Other public-private initiatives include ILO's efforts to work with 
 
BUENOS AIR 00000304  005.2 OF 006 
 
 
the tobacco industry to offer training to employees on how to 
identify and prevent child labor. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Ponce also described as positive a CONAETI/Ministry of 
Education initiative to provide scholarships to reintegrate children 
who have dropped out of school to work, and supports children who 
work and attend school. The program also provides children's parents 
with job-search assistance and job training.  In 2008, 5,000 
children and adolescents received scholarships.  Labor inspectors 
have referred another 29,000 children and adolescents to the 
program.  CONAETI indicates that these children are in the process 
of receiving scholarships for the next school year.  More 
information on the program can be found at: 
http://www.me.gov.ar/todosaestudiar/ 
 
COMMENT: MORE CARROTS, LESS STICKS 
---------------------------------- 
¶10.  (SBU) The GOA continues to work towards the eradication of 
child and forced labor.  Post is concerned that publication of this 
list will provoke a counterproductive reaction from the GOA.  Our 
public reports on a broad range of issues have reinforced the view 
here among the Argentine public that the USG sets itself up 
unilaterally as police officer, judge, and jury on GOA conduct and 
that, however much Argentines try, their best is never good enough 
for us.  At best, the list's publication will elicit an angry public 
response by the GOA.  At worst, it may provoke official resistance 
to our efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation in this area. 
Prior to the publication of this list, the interagency community 
should consider seriously whether this new round of diplomacy by 
report card is truly effective in reaching our goal of a world free 
of forced and child labor.  Instead of singling out countries like 
Argentina for problems they are trying to address, the USG should 
consider seriously redoubling bilateral assistance to strengthen 
efforts to combat the problem.  We should also find ways to include 
 
BUENOS AIR 00000304  006.2 OF 006 
 
 
praise for governments with active programs that are trying to 
eliminate forced and child labor, even with the limited resources 
available to them.  Post welcomes learning what plans DOL may have 
to provide bilateral assistance to governments who are trying to 
fight forced and child labor.  We look forward to hearing views from 
our colleagues at other posts. 
WAYNE