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OO RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
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O 211513Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7787
INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001770 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DRL/ILCSR FOR MARK MITTELHAUSER, DOL/ILAB FOR RACHEL RIGBY, 
G/TIP FOR STEVE STEINER, STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ETRD PHUM SOCI EIND IN
SUBJECT: POST COMMENTS ON DEPARTMENT OF LABOR'S UPDATE OF 
EXECUTIVE ORDER 13126 LIST 
 
REF: SECSTATE 80911 
 
¶1. (U) Summary. Embassy New Delhi welcomes the opportunity 
to comment on the Department of Labor's (DOL) draft list of 
goods that DOL has reason to believe are produced by forced 
child labor. 
Post appreciates DOL's openness to post's comments on 
previous drafts 
and DOL's decision to remove the gold jewelry and silk fabric 
industries 
from the current list. Post has not seen credible evidence of 
the use 
of forced child labor in the stones, bricks, garment, hybrid 
cottonseed, 
and rice industries.  End Summary. 
 
PREVALENCE OF CHILD AND FORCED LABOR 
----------- 
¶2. (U) Post agrees there is evidence of child labor in the 
following sectors: bidis, brassware, bricks, carpets, 
embroidered textiles (zari), fireworks, footwear, glass 
bangles, leather goods/accessories, locks, matches, rice, 
silk fabric, soccer balls, and stones. Post agrees there is 
evidence of forced labor in the following sectors: bricks, 
embroidered textiles (zari), rice, and stones. 
 
¶3. (U) Post appreciates DOL's considerations of post's 
previous 
communications regarding forced child labor the gold jewelry 
and 
silk fabric sectors of the Indian economy.  Post has not seen 
credible reports indicating forced child labor in the hybrid 
cottonseed, stones, bricks, carpets, garments, and rice 
industries. 
Post concurs with DOL's analysis of the current presence of 
forced 
child labor in the embroidered textiles sector. 
 
HYBRID COTTONSEED 
---- 
¶4. (U) Post has not seen any reports indicating forced labor 
in the hybrid cottonseed industry, though independent NGOs 
have compiled reports indicating the use of child labor in 
this industry.  Most of the sources for DOL's draft list of 
goods 
appear to use data from one researcher,s study of this 
industry. 
The Venkateswarlu report mentions child labor through an 
advance 
payment system for securing the use of children in the 
industry 
but his report does not categorically mention the use of 
forced 
labor.  Thus, we do not believe there is enough evidence of 
the 
use of forced labor in the hybrid cottonseed industry to 
include 
this sector on DOL's list of goods. 
 
STONES AND BRICKS 
---- 
¶5. (U) While it is largely accepted that children 
do work in stone quarries and brick kilns, the extent of 
forced 
child labor in this sector is unknown.  Post agrees that 
there 
is forced labor by adults in this sector, but is not aware of 
any recent studies to indicate the presence of forced child 
labor in these sectors.  The sources mentioned by DOL are 
dated and many of them do not specifically state the presence 
of forced child labor in these industries.  Post, therefore, 
does not believe that enough credible evidence exists to 
include this 
sector on the list. 
 
CARPETS 
---- 
¶6. (U) Post is not aware of any recent study or data to 
suggest that 
forced child labor is widely prevalent in the carpet sector. 
While 
 
NEW DELHI 00001770  002 OF 002 
 
 
it is known that child labor is involved in the carpet 
industry, there is not enough documentary evidence to suggest 
that forced child labor is present in significant numbers. 
We 
would strongly suggest that this sector be not included in 
the list. 
 
GARMENTS 
---- 
¶7. (U) Apart from one incident reported by Embassy New Delhi 
in 
June 2008, post has not come across the use of forced child 
labor 
in the garment sector.  Again the use of child labor in this 
sector 
is prevalent, but we are unsure about the use of forced child 
labor 
and hence suggest that this segment should not be put on the 
list. 
 
RICE 
---- 
¶8. (U) We are aware of reports indicating the use of forced 
labor (adults) 
in this sector.  Post, however, is not aware of any recent, 
credible 
studies on the use of forced child labor in this sector.  The 
primary 
source listed in the bibliography appears to be a book on 
bonded labor 
in the brick kiln industry and not rice.  Furthermore, that 
book was 
published in 2005 and includes data that is even less 
current. 
Post, therefore, does not agree with the inclusion of this 
sector on 
the list. 
 
EMBROIDERED TEXTILES 
---- 
¶9. (U) Post agrees that in the past couple of years many 
incidents of 
use of forced child labor in this sector has come to light 
and 
hence concurs with putting this sector on the list. 
 
COMMENT: INDIA IS SINCERELY TACKLING CHILD LABOR ISSUE 
---- 
¶10. (U) While the problem of child labor in India is 
widespread, post has 
found it very difficult to unearth credible reports of the 
use of forced 
child labor in various sectors.  While the case could be made 
that forced 
labor was rampant in the 1970s and 1980s, over the past two 
decades and 
more the Government of India has embarked on a series of 
programs to 
tackle the problem of both forced labor and child labor, 
including projects 
marked by close collaboration with DOL.  Coupled with an 
active and vigilant 
press and NGOs, occurrences of forced labor/forced child 
labor have 
significantly reduced in recent years.  Post is concerned 
about the impact 
of this list's release on the trust that has developed 
between 
India and the United States while working bilaterally to 
combat child labor, 
which has produced very solid, practical results.  Post 
recommends that DOL 
remove the hybrid cottonseed, sticks, bricks, garments, 
cotton and rice sectors 
from their list of goods believed have been produced with 
forced child labor, as 
we do not feel there is credible evidence of such practices 
in these sectors. 
END COMMENT. 
ROEMER