USCIB Letter Opposing Unilateral Sanctions in H.R. 2678
July 30, 1998
The Honorable Christopher H. Smith
2370 RHOB
Washington D.C. 20515-3004
Dear Mr. Smith:
Further to the July 21 statement by Frank Kittredge of the National Foreign Trade Council and USA*ENGAGE regarding the unilateral sanctions contained in your bill (H.R. 2678), I would like to add some specific information which would militate against your promoting such a bill at this time. The U.S. Council for International Business officially represents U.S. business at the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The majority of the world’s governments (including our own), as well as the Workers’ and Employers’ organizations that form the ILO’s constituents, all agree that the immediate application of ILO Convention #138 on Minimum Age would be impractical. The United States has not and will not be able to ratify #138. In any event, #138 is a Minimum Age Convention, and does not address egregious forms of child labor.
The ILO is considering, on a two-year schedule which began in June 1998, a new Convention to deal with the most egregious forms of child labor. There is unanimous sentiment in the ILO to concentrate efforts on the new Convention to be ready in 1999, and to continue and enlarge the successful activities of the International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC).
Our considered judgment is that if an American unilateral sanctions bill were to become law, it could seriously undermine the current efforts in the ILO to draft such a Convention. The developing countries that would feel themselves targeted by your approach would probably withdraw their support for the new Convention. We therefore respectfully urge you to reconsider your approach, and to withdraw the sanctions portion of your bill. Of course, we heartily support the authorization of money for the IPEC.
I would be happy to discuss this issue further with you or your staff at your convenience.
Sincerely,
cc: Howard Knicely, TRW, Inc.
Thomas Moorhead, Carter-Wallace, Inc.
Edward Potter, McGuiness & Williams
Frank Kittredge, NFTC
Michael Semrau, The Coca-Cola Company
Anthony Freeman/Mary Covington, ILO Washington Branch
