22 U.S.C. § 7107
Actions against governments failing to meet minimum standards
Not later than February 1st of each year, the Secretary of State shall provide to the appropriate congressional committees an assessment of the progress that each country on the special watch list described in subparagraph (A) has made since April 1 of the previous year.
A determination that a country shall not be placed on the special watch list described in subparagraph (A) shall not affect in any way the determination to be made in the following year as to whether a country is complying with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking or whether a country is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with such standards.
Except as provided under clause (ii), a country that is included on the special watch list described in subparagraph (A) for 2 consecutive years after
The Ambassador-at-Large of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking and all appropriate regional Assistant Secretaries shall make themselves available to brief the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives on the implementation of each action plan prepared under this paragraph.
The President has determined that such country is already subject to multiple, broad-based restrictions on assistance imposed in significant part in response to human rights abuses and such restrictions are ongoing and are comparable to the restrictions provided in paragraph (1). Such determination shall be accompanied by a description of the specific restriction or restrictions that were the basis for making such determination.
The Secretary of State has determined that the government of the country has come into compliance with the minimum standards or is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance.
Notwithstanding the failure of the government of the country to comply with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and to make significant efforts to bring itself into compliance, the President has determined that the provision to the country of nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance or funding for participation in educational and cultural exchange programs, or the multilateral assistance described in paragraph (1)(B), or both, would promote the purposes of this chapter or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States.
The President shall exercise the authority under paragraph (4) when necessary to avoid significant adverse effects on vulnerable populations, including women and children.
In this subsection, the term “multilateral development bank” refers to any of the following institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Development Association, the International Finance Corporation, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Investment Corporation, the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Multilateral Investment Guaranty Agency.
Together with any notification under subsection (c), the President shall provide a certification by the Secretary of State that, with respect to any assistance described in clause (ii), (iii), or (v) of section 7102(8)(A) 2
After the President has made a determination described in subsection (d)(1) with respect to the government of a country, the President may at any time make a determination described in paragraphs (4) and (5) of subsection (d) to waive, in whole or in part, the measures imposed against the country by the previous determination under subsection (d)(1).
This chapter, referred to in subsec. (d)(4), was in the original “this division”, meaning division A of Pub. L. 106–386,
Section 7102(8) of this title, referred to in subsec. (e), was redesignated section 7102(10) of this title by Pub. L. 115–427, § 2(1),
2021—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 116–283 substituted “June 30” for “June 1”.
2019—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 115–427, § 6(1)(A), substituted “The report shall, to the extent concurrent reporting data is available, cover efforts and activities taking place during the period between April 1 of the year preceding the report and March 31 of the year in which the report is made, and should” for “The report should” in introductory provisions.
Subsec. (b)(1)(A). Pub. L. 115–427, § 6(1)(B), inserted “based only on concrete actions taken by the country that are recorded during the reporting period” after “such standards”.
Subsec. (b)(1)(B). Pub. L. 115–427, § 6(1)(C), inserted “based only on concrete actions taken by the country (excluding any commitments by the country to take additional future steps during the next year) that are recorded during the reporting period” after “compliance”.
Subsec. (b)(1)(H). Pub. L. 115–427, § 6(1)(D)–(F), added subpar. (H).
Subsec. (b)(2)(A)(iii)(I). Pub. L. 115–425, § 203(1)(A), substituted “estimated” for “absolute” and inserted “and the country is not taking proportional concrete actions” before semicolon at end.
Subsec. (b)(2)(A)(iii)(III). Pub. L. 115–427, § 6(2)(A)(iii), struck out subcl. (III) which read as follows: “the determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year.”
Subsec. (b)(2)(B). Pub. L. 115–427, § 6(2)(B), substituted “April 1 of the previous year” for “the last annual report”.
Subsec. (b)(2)(D)(ii). Pub. L. 115–427, § 6(2)(C), substituted “1 year” for “2 years” in introductory provisions.
Subsec. (b)(2)(E). Pub. L. 115–427, § 6(2)(D), substituted “Congressional” for “Public” in heading and “shall—” and cls. (i) and (ii) for “shall provide a detailed description of the credible evidence supporting such determination on a publicly available website maintained by the Department of State.”
Subsec. (b)(2)(F). Pub. L. 115–425, § 203(1)(B), added subpar. (F).
Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 115–425, § 203(2), designated existing provisions as subpar. (A), redesignated former subpars. (A) to (C) as cls. (i) to (iii), respectively, of subpar. (A), realigned margins, and added subpar. (B).
Subsec. (b)(3)(C). Pub. L. 115–427, § 6(3)(B), which directed striking the semicolon at end and inserting a period, could not be executed because there is no subpar. (C). See amendment of subsec. (b)(3) by Pub. L. 115–425, § 203(2) above.
Subsec. (b)(3)(D) to (F). Pub. L. 115–427, § 6(3)(A), (C), added subpars. (D) to (F).
Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 115–427, § 6(4), added par. (4).
2013—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 113–4, § 1205(1)(A), in introductory provisions, substituted “describing the anti-trafficking efforts of the United States and foreign governments according to the minimum standards and criteria enumerated in section 7106 of this title, and the nature and scope of trafficking in persons in each country and analysis of the trend lines for individual governmental efforts. The report should include—” for “with respect to the status of severe forms of trafficking in persons that shall include—”.
Subsec. (b)(1)(G). Pub. L. 113–4, § 1205(1)(B)–(D), added subpar. (G).
Subsec. (b)(2) to (4). Pub. L. 113–4, § 1205(2)–(4), redesignated pars. (3) and (4) as (2) and (3), respectively, added subpar. (E) in par. (2), and struck out former par. (2) which related to interim reports.
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 113–4, § 1212(b)(2)(A)(i), substituted “section 7102(8)(A)” for “section 7102(7)(A) and “section 7102(8)(B)” for “section 7102(7)(B)”.
2008—Subsec. (b)(1)(E), (F). Pub. L. 110–457, § 108(b), added subpars. (E) and (F).
Subsec. (b)(3)(D). Pub. L. 110–457, § 107(a), added subpar. (D).
Subsec. (d)(1)(A)(ii). Pub. L. 110–457, § 107(b), inserted “such assistance to the government of the country for the subsequent fiscal year and will not provide” after “the United States will not provide”.
2006—Subsec. (b)(1)(D). Pub. L. 109–164 added subpar. (D).
2003—Subsec. (b)(3), (4). Pub. L. 108–193, § 6(e), added par. (3) and redesignated former par. (3) as (4).
Subsec. (d)(4). Pub. L. 108–193, § 6(h)(1), inserted “or funding for participation in educational and cultural exchange programs” after “nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance”.
Subsec. (d)(5)(A)(i). Pub. L. 108–193, § 6(h)(2), inserted “or funding for participation in educational and cultural exchange programs” after “foreign assistance”.
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 108–193, § 6(i), added subsec. (f).
Pub. L. 115–427, § 7(a),
Pub. L. 115–425, title II, § 204(b),
Pub. L. 110–457, title I, § 107(c),
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2024–14,
Memorandum for the Secretary of State
Consistent with section 110 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107) (the “Act”), as amended, I hereby determine as follows:
As provided for in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, that the United States will not provide nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related assistance to the Governments of Burma and Iran for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 until such governments comply with the Act’s minimum standards or make significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with the minimum standards;
As provided for in section 110(d)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act, that the United States will not provide nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related assistance to, or allow funding for participation in educational and cultural exchange programs by officials or employees of, the Governments of Belarus, Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Eritrea, Macau (Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)), Nicaragua, the PRC, Russia, and Syria for FY 2025 until such governments comply with the Act’s minimum standards or make significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with the minimum standards;
As provided for in section 110(d)(1)(B) of the Act, I hereby instruct the United States Executive Director of each multilateral development bank, as defined in the Act, and of the International Monetary Fund to vote against and use best efforts to deny any loan or other utilization of the funds of the respective institution (other than for humanitarian assistance; for trade-related assistance; or for development assistance that directly addresses basic human needs, is not administered by the government of such country, and confers no benefit to that government) for the Governments of Belarus, Burma, Cuba, the DPRK, Eritrea, Iran, Macau (Special Administrative Region of the PRC), Nicaragua, the PRC, Russia, South Sudan, and Syria for FY 2025 until such governments comply with the Act’s minimum standards or make significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with the minimum standards;
Consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, I determine that the provision of all nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance programs, projects, activities, and funding for educational and cultural exchange programs described in sections 110(d)(1)(A) and 110(d)(1)(B) of the Act to Brunei, Djibouti, Papua New Guinea, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States;
Consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, I determine that providing the assistance described in section 110(d)(1)(B) of the Act to Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Sudan would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States;
Consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, I determine that a partial waiver with respect to Belarus, Eritrea, Macau (Special Administrative Region of the PRC), the PRC, and Russia to allow funding for educational and cultural exchange programs described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States;
Consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to Afghanistan, I determine that a partial waiver of the restriction described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act to allow for Economic Support Fund and Global Health Programs (GHP) assistance would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States;
Consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to Cambodia, I determine that a partial waiver of the restriction described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act to allow for all assistance and programs other than education programs funded from Development Assistance (DA) would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States;
Consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to South Sudan, I determine that a partial waiver of the restriction described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act to allow for GHP assistance would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States; and
Consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to Sudan, I determine that a partial waiver of the restriction described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act to allow for DA and GHP assistance would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States.
In addition, with respect to the Government of Sint Maarten, consistent with the United States Government’s firm stand against human trafficking, and until such government takes steps consistent with compliance with the minimum standards of the Act or makes significant efforts to do so, I hereby: (i) direct that executive departments and agencies shall not provide nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance, as described in section 110(d)(1)(A) of the Act, to the Government of Sint Maarten; (ii) instruct the United States Executive Director of each multilateral development bank, as defined in the Act, and of the International Monetary Fund to vote against and use best efforts to deny any loan or other utilization of the funds of the respective institution (other than for humanitarian assistance, for trade-related assistance, or for development assistance that directly addresses basic human needs, is not administered by such government, and confers no benefit to that government) to Sint Maarten, as described in section 110(d)(1)(B) of the Act; and (iii) direct that funding for participation by officials or employees of the Government of Sint Maarten in educational and cultural exchange programs shall continue to be permitted in FY 2025, consistent with the foreign policy and all applicable laws of the United States.
You are authorized and directed to submit this determination, the certification required by section 110(e) of the Act, and the Memorandum of Justification, on which I have relied, to the Congress, and to publish this determination in the Federal Register.
Prior determinations and certifications regarding trafficking in persons were contained in the following:
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2023–14,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2023–02,
[Determination of President of the United States, No. 2022–06,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2020–12,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2020–02,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2019–05,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2017–15,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2016–12,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2016–01,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2014–16,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2013–16,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2012–16,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2011–18,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2010–15,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2009–29,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2009–5,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2008–4,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2006–25,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2005–37,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2004–46,
Determination of President of the United States, No. 2003–35,
Memorandum of President of the United States,
Memorandum for the Secretary of State
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby delegate to you the functions conferred upon the President by section 107(a) of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–457).
You are hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
Memorandum of President of the United States,
Memorandum for the Secretary of State
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby delegate to the Secretary of State the authority under section 110(d)(4) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (the “Act”) (22 U.S.C. 7107(d)(4)) to waive the application of the prohibition in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act to Yemen during Fiscal Year 2016, as applicable, and to make the determinations necessary for such waiver. I hereby also delegate to the Secretary of State the authority under section 110(c) of the Act to notify the appropriate congressional committees of such waiver and the justification for granting such waiver.
You are hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
Prior provisions delegating authority under section 110(d)(4) and (c) or (f) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 were contained in the following:
Memorandum of President of the United States,
Memorandum of President of the United States,