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| Part 175 | Award Term for Trafficking in Persons | 175.100 – 175.300 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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22 U.S.C. 7104(g); 22 U.S.C. 7104a; 22 U.S.C. 7104b; 22 U.S.C. 7104c; 31 U.S.C. 503; 31 U.S.C. 6307; 31 U.S.C. 1111; 41 U.S.C. 1121; Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970; E.O. 11541, 35 FR 10737.
89 FR 30113, Apr. 22, 2024, unless otherwise noted.
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22 U.S.C. 7104(g); 22 U.S.C. 7104a; 22 U.S.C. 7104b; 22 U.S.C. 7104c; 31 U.S.C. 503; 31 U.S.C. 6307; 31 U.S.C. 1111; 41 U.S.C. 1121; Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970; E.O. 11541, 35 FR 10737.
89 FR 30113, Apr. 22, 2024, unless otherwise noted.
This part establishes a Federal award term for grants and cooperative agreements to implement the requirements in 22 U.S.C. 7104(g); 22 U.S.C. 7104a; 22 U.S.C. 7104b; and 22 U.S.C. 7104c.
(a) Federal agencies are required to include in each Federal grant or cooperative agreement a condition that authorizes the Federal agency to terminate the award or take any remedial actions authorized by 22 U.S.C. 7104b(c), without penalty, if a private entity receiving funds under the award as a recipient or subrecipient engages in:
(1) Severe forms of trafficking in persons;
(2) The procurement of a commercial sex act during the period of time that the grant or cooperative agreement is in effect;
(3) The use of forced labor in the performance of the grant or cooperative agreement; or
(4) Acts that directly support or advance trafficking in persons, including the following acts:
(i) Destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or otherwise denying an employee access to that employee's identity or immigration documents;
(ii) Failing to provide return transportation or pay for return transportation costs to an employee from a country outside the United States to the country from which the employee was recruited upon the end of employment if requested by the employee, unless:
(A) exempted from the requirement to provide or pay for such return transportation by the Federal department or agency providing or entering into the grant or cooperative agreement; or
(B) the employee is a victim of human trafficking seeking victim services or legal redress in the country of employment or a witness in a human trafficking enforcement action;
(iii) Soliciting a person for the purpose of employment, or offering employment, by means of materially false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises regarding that employment;
(iv) Charging recruited employees a placement or recruitment fee; or
(v) Providing or arranging housing that fails to meet the host country's housing and safety standards.
(b) Compliance plan and certification requirement:
(1) Certification. Prior to receiving a grant or cooperative agreement, if the estimated value of services required to be performed under the grant or cooperative agreement outside the United States exceeds $500,000, a recipient must certify that:
(i) The recipient has implemented a plan to prevent the activities described in paragraph (a) of this section, and is in compliance with this plan;
(ii) The recipient has implemented procedures to prevent any activities described in paragraph (a) of this section and to monitor, detect, and terminate any subrecipient, contractor, subcontractor, or employee of the recipient engaging in any activities described in paragraph (a) of this section; and
(iii) To the best of the recipient's knowledge, neither the recipient, nor any subrecipient, contractor, or subcontractor of the recipient or any agent of the recipient or of such a subrecipient, contractor, or subcontractor, is engaged in any of the activities described in paragraph (a) of this section.
(2) Annual certification. The recipient must submit an annual certification consistent with paragraph (b)(1) of this section for each year the award is in effect.
(3) Compliance plan. Any plan or procedures implemented pursuant to paragraph (b) must be appropriate to the size and complexity of the grant or cooperative agreement and to the nature and scope of its activities, including the number of non-United States citizens expected to be employed.
(4) Copies of the compliance plan. The recipient must provide a copy of the plan to the grant officer upon request, and as appropriate, must post the useful and relevant contents of the plan or related materials on its website and at the workplace.
(5) Minimum requirements of the compliance plan. The compliance plan must include, at a minimum, the following:
(i) An awareness program to inform recipient employees about the Government's policy prohibiting trafficking-related activities described in paragraph (a) of this section, the activities prohibited, and the actions that will be taken against the employee for violations. Additional information about Trafficking in Persons and examples of awareness programs can be found at the website for the Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at http://www.state.gov/j/tip/.
(ii) A process for employees to report, without fear of retaliation, activity inconsistent with the policy prohibiting trafficking in persons.
(iii) A recruitment and wage plan that only permits the use of recruitment companies with trained employees, prohibits charging recruitment fees to the employees or potential employees and ensures that wages meet applicable host-country legal requirements or explains any variance.
(iv) A housing plan, if the recipient, subrecipient, contractor, or subcontractor intends to provide or arrange housing, that ensures that the housing meets host-country housing and safety standards.
(v) Procedures to prevent agents, subrecipients, contractors, or subcontractors at any tier and at any dollar value from engaging in trafficking in persons, including activities in paragraph (a) of this section, and to monitor, detect, and terminate any agents, subgrants, or subrecipient, contractor, or subcontractor employees that have engaged in such activities.
(c) Notification to Inspectors General and cooperation with government. The head of a Federal agency making or awarding a grant or cooperative agreement must require that the recipient of the grant or cooperative agreement:
(1) Immediately inform the Federal agency and Inspector General of the Federal agency of any information it receives from any source that alleges credible information that the recipient, any subrecipient, contractor, or subcontractor of the recipient, or any agent of the recipient or of such a subrecipient, contractor, or subcontractor, has engaged in conduct described in paragraph (a) of this section; and
(2) Fully cooperate with any Federal agencies responsible for audits, investigations, or corrective actions relating to trafficking in persons.
(a) To implement the requirements of 22 U.S.C. 7104(g) a Federal agency must include the award term in Appendix A of this part for the following Federal awards:
(1) A grant or cooperative agreement to a private entity, as defined in § 175.300; and
(2) A grant or cooperative agreement to a State, local government, Indian Tribe, foreign public entity, or any other recipient if funding under the award could be provided to a subrecipient that is a private entity.
(b) A Federal agency may use different letters and numbers than those in Appendix A to designate the paragraphs of the award term. A Federal agency may also include additional information in the award term, consistent with the statutory authority of this part, such as further information on the compliance plan and certification requirements in § 175.105(b).
A Federal agency official should inform the agency's suspension and debarment official if an award is terminated based on a violation of a prohibition in the award term under Appendix A.
Terms not defined in this part have the same meaning as provided in 2 CFR part 200, subpart A. As used in this part:
Abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process means the use or threatened use of a law or legal process, whether administrative, civil, or criminal, in any manner or for any purpose for which the law was not designed, in order to exert pressure on another person to cause that person to take some action or refrain from taking some action.
Coercion means:
(1) Threats of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person;
(2) Any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; or
(3) The abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process.
Commercial sex act means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person.
Debt bondage means the status or condition of a debtor arising from a pledge by the debtor of his or her personal services or of those of a person under his or her control as a security for debt, if the value of those services as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt or the length and nature of those services are not respectively limited and defined.
Involuntary servitude includes a condition of servitude induced by means of:
(1) Any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that, if the person did not enter into or continue in such condition, that person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint; or
(2) The abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process.
Private Entity means any entity, including for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, institutes of higher education, and hospitals. The term does not include foreign public entities, Indian Tribes, local governments, or states as defined in 2 CFR 200.1.
Recruitment Fee means fees of any type, including charges, costs, assessments, or other financial obligations, that are associated with the recruiting process, regardless of the time, manner, or location of imposition or collection of the fee.
(1) Recruitment fees include, but are not limited to, the following fees (when they are associated with the recruiting process) for:
(i) Advertising;
(ii) Obtaining permanent or temporary labor certification, including any associated fees;
(iii) Processing applications and petitions;
(iv) Acquiring visas, including any associated fees;
(v) Acquiring photographs and identity or immigration documents, such as passports, including any associated fees;
(vi) Accessing the job opportunity, including required medical examinations and immunizations; background, reference, and security clearance checks and examinations; and additional certifications;
(vii) An employer's recruiters, agents or attorneys, or other notary or legal fees;
(viii) Language interpretation or translation, arranging for or accompanying on travel, or providing other advice to employees or potential employees;
(ix) Government-mandated fees, such as border crossing fees, levies, or worker welfare fund;
(x) Transportation and subsistence costs:
(A) While in transit, including, but not limited to, airfare or costs of other modes of transportation, terminal fees, and travel taxes associated with travel from the country of origin to the country of performance and the return journey upon the end of employment; and
(B) From the airport or disembarkation point to the worksite;
(xi) Security deposits, bonds, and insurance; and
(xii) Equipment charges.
(2) A recruitment fee, as described in the introductory text of this definition, is a recruitment fee, regardless of whether the payment is:
(i) Paid in property or money;
(ii) Deducted from wages;
(iii) Paid back in wage or benefit concessions;
(iv) Paid back as a kickback, bribe, in-kind payment, free labor, tip, or tribute; or
(v) Collected by an employer or a third party, whether licensed or unlicensed, including, but not limited to:
(A) Agents;
(B) Labor brokers;
(C) Recruiters;
(D) Staffing firms (including private employment and placement firms);
(E) Subsidiaries/affiliates of the employer;
(F) Any agent or employee of such entities; and
(G) Subcontractors at all tiers.
Severe forms of trafficking in persons means:
(1) Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or
(2) The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery.
Sex trafficking means the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.
I. Trafficking in Persons
(a) Provisions applicable to a recipient that is a private entity.
(1) Under this award, the recipient, its employees, subrecipients under this award, and subrecipient's employees must not engage in:
(i) Severe forms of trafficking in persons;
(ii) The procurement of a commercial sex act during the period of time that this award or any subaward is in effect;
(iii) The use of forced labor in the performance of this award or any subaward; or
(iv) Acts that directly support or advance trafficking in persons, including the following acts:
(A) Destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or otherwise denying an employee access to that employee's identity or immigration documents;
(B) Failing to provide return transportation or pay for return transportation costs to an employee from a country outside the United States to the country from which the employee was recruited upon the end of employment if requested by the employee, unless:
(1) Exempted from the requirement to provide or pay for such return transportation by the Federal department or agency providing or entering into the grant or cooperative agreement; or
(2) The employee is a victim of human trafficking seeking victim services or legal redress in the country of employment or a witness in a human trafficking enforcement action;
(C) Soliciting a person for the purpose of employment, or offering employment, by means of materially false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises regarding that employment;
(D) Charging recruited employees a placement or recruitment fee; or
(E) Providing or arranging housing that fails to meet the host country's housing and safety standards.
(2) The Federal agency may unilaterally terminate this award or take any remedial actions authorized by 22 U.S.C. 7104b(c), without penalty, if any private entity under this award:
(i) Is determined to have violated a prohibition in paragraph (a)(1) of this appendix; or
(ii) Has an employee that is determined to have violated a prohibition in paragraph (a)(1) of this this appendix through conduct that is either:
(A) Associated with the performance under this award; or
(B) Imputed to the recipient or the subrecipient using the standards and due process for imputing the conduct of an individual to an organization that are provided in 2 CFR part 180, “OMB Guidelines to Agencies on Government-wide Debarment and Suspension (Nonprocurement),” as implemented by our agency at [agency must insert reference here to its regulatory implementation of the OMB guidelines in 2 CFR part 180 (for example, “2 CFR part XX”)].
(b) Provision applicable to a recipient other than a private entity.
(1) The Federal agency may unilaterally terminate this award or take any remedial actions authorized by 22 U.S.C. 7104b(c), without penalty, if a subrecipient that is a private entity under this award:
(i) Is determined to have violated a prohibition in paragraph (a)(1) of this appendix; or
(ii) Has an employee that is determined to have violated a prohibition in paragraph (a)(1) of this appendix through conduct that is either:
(A) Associated with the performance under this award; or
(B) Imputed to the subrecipient using the standards and due process for imputing the conduct of an individual to an organization that are provided in 2 CFR part 180, “OMB Guidelines to Agencies on Government-wide Debarment and Suspension (Nonprocurement),” as implemented by our agency at [agency must insert reference here to its regulatory implementation of the OMB guidelines in 2 CFR part 180 (for example, “2 CFR part XX”)].
(c) Provisions applicable to any recipient.
(1) The recipient must inform the Federal agency and the Inspector General of the Federal agency immediately of any information you receive from any source alleging a violation of a prohibition in paragraph (a)(1) of this appendix.
(2) The Federal agency's right to unilaterally terminate this award as described in paragraphs (a)(2) or (b)(1) of this appendix:
(i) Implements the requirements of 22 U.S.C. 78, and
(ii) Is in addition to all other remedies for noncompliance that are available to the Federal agency under this award.
(3) The recipient must include the requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this award term in any subaward it makes to a private entity.
(4) If applicable, the recipient must also comply with the compliance plan and certification requirements in 2 CFR 175.105(b).
(d) Definitions. For purposes of this award term:
Employee means either:
(1) An individual employed by the recipient or a subrecipient who is engaged in the performance of the project or program under this award; or
(2) Another person engaged in the performance of the project or program under this award and not compensated by the recipient including, but not limited to, a volunteer or individual whose services are contributed by a third party as an in-kind contribution toward cost sharing requirements.
Private Entity means any entity, including for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, and hospitals. The term does not include foreign public entities, Indian Tribes, local governments, or states as defined in 2 CFR 200.1.
The terms “severe forms of trafficking in persons,” “commercial sex act,” “sex trafficking,” “Abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process,” “coercion,” “debt bondage,” and “involuntary servitude” have the meanings given at section 103 of the TVPA, as amended (22 U.S.C. 7102).