Country Ratings

Tier Placements¹

[Adapted from U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June 12, 2007]

Tier 1

The governments of countries in Tier 1 fully comply with the Act's minimum standards². Such governments criminalize and have successfully prosecuted trafficking, and have provided a wide range of protective services to victims. Victims are not jailed or otherwise punished solely as a result of being trafficked, and they are not summarily returned to a country where they may face hardship as a result of being trafficked. In addition, these governments sponsor or coordinate prevention campaigns aimed at stemming the flow of trafficking.

Australia	Finland	Korea, South	Norway
Austria	France	Lithuania	Poland
Belgium	Georgia	Luxembourg	Slovenia
Canada	Germany	Malawi	Spain
Colombia	Hong Kong	Morocco	Sweden
Czech Republic	Hungary	Netherlands	Switzerland
Denmark	Italy	New Zealand	United Kingdom - UK

Tier 2

The governments of countries in Tier 2 do not yet fully comply with the Act’s minimum standards² but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards. Some are strong in the prosecution of traffickers, but provide little or no assistance to victims. Others work to assist victims and punish traffickers, but have not yet taken any significant steps to prevent trafficking. Some governments are only beginning to address trafficking, but nonetheless have already taken significant steps towards the eradication of trafficking.

Afghanistan	Ecuador	Macedonia	Senegal
Albania	El Salvador	Madagascar	Serbia
Angola	Estonia	Mali	Sierra Leone
Azerbaijan	Ethiopia	Malta	Singapore
Bangladesh	Gabon	Mauritius	Slovak Republic
Belize	Ghana	Mongolia	Suriname
Benin	Greece	Montenegro	Taiwan
Bolivia	Guinea	Nepal	Tajikistan
Bosnia-Herzegovina	Guinea-Bissau	Nicaragua	Tanzania
Brazil	Indonesia	Niger	Thailand
Bulgaria	Israel	Nigeria	Togo
Burkina Faso	Jamaica	Pakistan	Turkey
Cameroon	Japan	Panama	Uganda
Chile	Jordan	Paraguay	Uruguay
Congo (DRC)	Kyrgyz Republic	Peru	Vietnam
Costa Rica	Laos	Philippines	Yemen
Cote D' Ivoire	Latvia	Portugal	Zambia
Croatia	Lebanon	Romania	Zimbabwe
East Timor	Liberia	Rwanda

Tier 2 Watch List

Argentina	Cyprus	Honduras	Moldova
Armenia	Djibouti	India	Mozambique
Belarus	Dominican Republic	Kazakhstan	Papua New Guinea
Burundi	Egypt	Kenya	Russia
Cambodia	Fiji	Libya	South Africa
Central African Rep	The Gambia	Macau	Sri Lanka
Chad	Guatemala	Mauritania	Ukraine
China	Guyana	Mexico	United Arab Emirates

Tier 3

The governments of countries in Tier 3 do not fully comply with the minimum standards² and are not making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance. Some of these governments refuse to acknowledge the trafficking problem within their territory. On a more positive note, several other governments in this category are beginning to take concrete steps to combat trafficking. While these steps do not yet reach the appropriate level of significance, many of these governments are on the path to placement on Tier 2.

Algeria	Equatorial Guinea	Malaysia	Sudan
Bahrain	Iran	Oman	Syria
Burma	Kuwait	Qatar	Uzbekistan
Cuba	Korea, North	Saudi Arabia	Venezuela

No Tier Rating

The Department was unable to place the following countries in tiers because of extenuating circumstances in transitioning states, and information that is incomplete, unclear, contradictory, or difficult to corroborate. These cases merit special mention because there are indications of trafficking in each of these countries. In some cases, there is no effective central government or the central government does not exercise control over the country. These transitional governments cannot be fairly evaluated on actions by previous governments. In addition, the Department did not assign a tier-rating to the USA

The Bahamas	Haiti	Kiribati	Somalia	Turkmenistan
Barbados	Iraq	Lesotho	Swaziland
Brunei	Ireland	Solomon Islands	Tunisia

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1. Determination of Tier Placements

The Department places each country included on the 2007 TIP Report into one of the three lists, described here as tiers, mandated by the TVPA [Trafficking Victims Protection Act]. This placement is based more on the extent of government action to combat trafficking, rather than the size of the problem, important though that is. The Department first evaluates whether the government fully complies with the TVPA's minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking (detailed on pp. 228-229). Governments that do fully comply are placed in Tier 1. For other governments, the Department considers whether they are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance. Governments that are making significant efforts to meet the minimum standards are placed in Tier 2. Governments that do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so are placed in Tier 3. Finally, the Special Watch List criteria are considered and, when applicable, Tier 2 countries are placed on the Tier 2 Watch List.

2 Minimum Standards

1. The government should prohibit trafficking and punish acts of trafficking.

2. The government should prescribe punishment commensurate with that for grave crimes, such as forcible sexual assault, for the knowing commission of trafficking in some of its most reprehensible forms (trafficking for sexual purposes, trafficking involving rape or kidnapping, or trafficking that causes a death).

3. For knowing commission of any act of trafficking, the government should prescribe punishment that is sufficiently stringent to deter, and that adequately reflects the offense’s heinous nature.

4. The government should make serious and sustained efforts to eliminate trafficking.

a) Whether the government vigorously investigates and prosecutes acts of trafficking within its territory.

b) Whether the government protects victims of trafficking, encourages victims’ assistance in investigation and prosecution, provides victims with legal alternatives to their removal to countries where they would face retribution or hardship, and ensures that victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts as a direct result of being trafficked.

c) Whether the government has adopted measures, such as public education, to prevent trafficking.

d) Whether the government cooperates with other governments in investigating and prosecuting trafficking.

e) Whether the government extradites persons charged with trafficking as it does with other serious crimes.

f) Whether the government monitors immigration and emigration patterns for evidence of trafficking, and whether law enforcement agencies respond appropriately to such evidence.

g) Whether the government vigorously investigates and prosecutes public officials who participate in or facilitate trafficking, and takes all appropriate measures against officials who condone trafficking.

3 Significant Efforts

Three factors were considered in determining whether a country is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with these minimum standards. (1) the extent of trafficking in the country; (2) the extent of governmental noncompliance with the minimum standards, particularly the extent to which government officials have participated in, facilitated, condoned, or are otherwise complicit in trafficking; and (3) what measures are reasonable to bring the government into compliance with the minimum standards in light of the government’s resources and capabilities.