WASHINGTON, May 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Labor released its third annual report Tuesday on the worst forms of child labor in 144 countries receiving U.S. trade benefits.
"All people can benefit from the enormous opportunities created by free trade," said Arnold Levine of the department's bureau of international labor affairs. "Yet a free market can only operate efficiently when it is supported by protections for workers, including protections from the worst forms of child labor."
The worst forms of child labor, as defined by international convention, include any form of slavery, the trafficking of children and the forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict and child prostitution and pornography.
The ILA report gives information on the nature and extent of the problem in each of 144 countries and territories receiving U.S. trade benefits as well as the efforts being made by their governments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.
The report is available at online at www2.dol.gov/ILAB/media/reports/iclp/main.htm.
