§4111 Periodic Reports and Meetings on Labor Obligations and Labor Capacity-building Provisions

Summary

The President must send Congress a report no later than the end of the 2-year period after the Agreement begins, and every 2 years after that for the next 14 years. Each report must explain how the CAFTA–DR countries are carrying out Chapter Sixteen and Annex 16.5 and how they are following the White Paper (the April 2005 report by the Working Group of the Vice Ministers titled "The Labor Dimension in Central America and the Dominican Republic - Building on Progress: Strengthening Compliance and Enhancing Capacity"). The report must describe what the Labor Cooperation and Capacity Building Mechanism (article 16.5 and Annex 16.5) and the Labor Affairs Council (article 16.4) have done, including projects, funds, and results in each CAFTA–DR country; give recommendations on how the United States can help implement the White Paper; describe work with the International Labor Organization and other groups; and summarize public comments on U.S. capacity-building, U.S. help to implement the White Paper, and the CAFTA–DR countries’ progress in protecting workers’ rights. The President must set up a way to collect public comments. The Secretary of Labor should meet regularly with the CAFTA–DR labor ministers to talk about how the labor rules are working, progress on the White Paper, ILO and other cooperative efforts, and other related matters. The President will include summaries of those meetings in each report when appropriate.