the commission takes the issue of child labour very seriously
in june the ilo indicated that some two hundred million children work
although there is a downward trend which is encouraging that is still two hundred million too many children who are working when they should be receiving an education
it is important to realise however that only around five of these children work in export-oriented sectors
according to ilo data the vast majority work in subsistence farming or as domestic workers
that is why the eu tackles child labour through a comprehensive policy approach that focuses on its root causes poverty and a lack of access to quality education
this approach was set out in this january's commission staff working document on combating child labour which was endorsed by the council on fourteen june
i refer you to both documents for more specific details about that policy approach and its future development
taken together these actions contribute to the internationally agreed goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by twenty sixteen and eventually ending all forms of child labour
many eu companies including smes subscribe to corporate social responsibility schemes through which they undertake to ensure that child and forced labour are not used in their supply chain
the commission is currently exploring ways of better integrating human rights issues into eu corporate social responsibility policy
in addition smes can make use of a number of private sustainability assurance schemes operating within the eu which depending on the criteria utilised by the scheme in question may require that child and forced labour are not used in the production of goods and services bearing the label associated with that scheme
