Put an end to the exploitation of child labor.

• Author: Harkin, Tom

Our Laws prohibit the importation of ivory, endangered species such as the spotted turtle, and products made from prison labor. Yet, our laws fall silent when it comes to goods made through the exploitation of children. We look out for animals and prisoners, but fail to protect youngsters from exploitive and abusive labor.

This strategy is of global proportions. The International Labor Organizations (ILO) reports that the number of children in abusive and oftentimes unsafe working conditions instead of school is increasing throughout the world. According to the ILO, those under the age of 15 constitute 11% of the workforce in some Asian countries and up to 26% in many Latin American nations. There are considerably more than 100,000,000 child laborers around the globe, many of whom work as bonded labor to repay debts owned by their parents. Some even are kidnapped or forced into labor.

The problem of child labor was brought into greater focus during the recent Mexican Free Trade Agreement. In Mexico, 5-10,000,000 youngsters are employed illegally, often in hazardous jobs and making products for export to the U.S. Thirteen-year-old girls have been found working 48-hour weeks producing electric wiring strips for General Electric in Nogales and dashboard components for General Motors at its Delnosa plant.

In 1993, the U.S. Department of Labor investigated the use of exploitive and abusive child labor in goods imported to the U.S. The study, "By the Sweat and Toil of Children: The Use of Child Labor in American Imports," targeted 19 countries, where at least 46,000,000 youngsters work, many producing goods for the U.S. market. The report revealed a horrible picture of how children are contributing to their nation's export industry.

In Southeast Asia, where it is estimated that at least half of all child workers live, they toil 14-hour days in crowded factories and knot carpets for hours in dusty huts. American consumers buy more than 40% of India's carpet exports and account for over 50% of Bangladesh's earnings from garment exports.

Moreover, reports indicate that 10,000,000 of the 55,000,000 child workers in south Asia are bonded laborers. In Colombia, almost 800,000 children ages 12 through 17 are exposed to toxic substances as they process and harvest flowers for export.

Something needs to be done to discourage this practice. Children in developing countries, for the sake of their future and that of their economies, should be in schools and...