Trafficking Office Drafts Narratives and Makes Tier Ranking Recommendations but Did Not Post Information on Downgrade Waivers on State’s Website within the Required Deadline

			Trafficking Office Gathers Information and Has Developed Reporting Guidance

The Trafficking Office produces initial drafts of the State Department’s  annual Trafficking in Persons Report with input compiled from a variety of  sources including U.S. missions, foreign governments, and NGOs. According to  State officials, the majority of disagreements are resolved at the  working level. State Has Made Improvements to the Trafficking in Persons Report but Does Not Explicitly Explain the Basis for Certain Countries’ Tier Rankings or Tier Changes

State has made improvements to the Trafficking in Persons Report but  does not explicitly explain the basis for certain countries’ tier rankings or,  where relevant, why countries’ tier rankings changed. Our analysis of the  2015 Trafficking in Persons Report found that, compared to our previous  review in 2006, there were few instances in which minimum standards  and criteria were not mentioned in the report country narratives. Rather, a Tier 1 ranking indicates that a government has  acknowledged the existence of human trafficking, has made efforts to  address the problem, and meets the TVPA’s minimum standards.”  Nonetheless, we found that the narratives sometimes included language  that seemed contradictory to certain standards and criteria. In addition,  we found that, for countries that changed tier from one year to the next,  most narratives did not provide an explicit explanation as to why State  had decided to change those countries’ tier rankings. Standards for  Internal Control in the Federal Government states that information should  be communicated in a way that is useful to internal and external users. Report Narratives in Most Cases Do Not Explicitly Explain the Basis for the Tier Ranking of the Highest-Ranked Countries

While our analysis of the narratives for the Tier 1 countries as a group  continued the trend of showing increased improvement in governments’  actions as compared to the groups of narratives for the other tiers, the  narratives for most Tier 1 countries in State’s 2015 and 2016 Trafficking  in Persons reports did not explicitly explain the basis for the tier rankings. Without clarity in country narratives regarding State’s assessments of  governments’ compliance with the minimum standards to combat  trafficking, particularly for Tier 1, which is described by the report as  governments of countries that fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards  for the elimination of trafficking, the report’s usefulness could be  diminished. State and Other Officials Indicate that the Trafficking in Persons Report Is a Useful Tool in Engaging with Other Countries, but State Has Not Systematically Assessed Its Effectiveness Trafficking in Persons Report Can Create Opportunities and Challenges in Encouraging Actions against Trafficking

Based on our discussions with selected officials from State, other  agencies, and NGOs, the Trafficking in Persons Report has raised  awareness about trafficking and that countries’ concerns about their tier  ranking can spur them to make progress. Without such an assessment,  the effect of the report in encouraging governments to make progress  against trafficking is not well understood. However, to date, the effort has not  assessed the impact of the report’s recommendations. Officials from the Trafficking Office stated that they have taken steps to  more systematically assess the report’s effectiveness. First, despite a legislative requirement to do so, State  has not regularly posted on its public website a detailed description of the  credible evidence supporting the determination to issue a waiver to avoid  an automatic downgrade to Tier 3. This lack of clarity could cause confusion  about the status of country actions or State’s decision making and could  limit the ability of State and others to use the report as a diplomatic tool to  advance efforts to combat trafficking. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

This report addresses (1) the process the Department of State (State)  uses to prepare country narratives and decide tier rankings in the  Trafficking in Persons Report; (2) the extent to which country narratives in  the Trafficking in Persons Report clearly discuss the minimum standards  to combat trafficking as enumerated in the Trafficking Victims Protection  Act (TVPA) and interpreted by State; and (3) the extent to which State  assesses the effectiveness of the Trafficking in Persons Report as a  diplomatic tool to encourage countries to address human trafficking.
Why GAO Did This Study

Human traffickers exploit men, women, and children for financial gain. Congress enacted the TVPA in 2000, which requires the Secretary of State to report annually on governments' efforts according to the act's minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Each year since 2001, State has published the Trafficking in Persons Report , ranking countries into one of four tiers. GAO found in 2006 that the report did not fully describe State's assessment of compliance with standards or provide complete explanations for ranking decisions.
The explanatory statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, included a provision for GAO to review the report's preparation and effectiveness. This report addresses (1) the process to develop the report, (2) the extent to which country narratives discuss minimum standards, and (3) the extent to which State assesses the report's effectiveness as a tool to address trafficking. GAO compared 220 country narratives in the 2015 and 2016 reports with the minimum standards and analyzed 82 narratives for countries that changed tier. GAO also interviewed State and other officials.

What GAO Found

The Department of State's (State) Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (Trafficking Office) compiles information on countries' actions to combat human trafficking and recommends tier rankings for the Trafficking in Persons Report but did not post information on waivers within mandated timeframes. The figure below shows the percentage of countries by tier in the 2015 and 2016 reports. Disagreements about tier rankings between the Trafficking Office and other parts of State, which have different priorities, are usually resolved at the working level, according to officials, with only a few elevated to the Secretary of State for resolution. The Secretary of State determines all final tier rankings. The Trafficking Office recommends whether to grant waivers for countries that otherwise would be automatically downgraded to the lowest tier. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) requires State to post a detailed description of the credible evidence used to support these waivers on its website annually, but State did not do so for the 2014 through 2016 reports until September 2016.
State has made improvements to the Trafficking in Persons Report since 2006 but does not explicitly explain the basis for certain countries' tier rankings or, where relevant, why countries' tier rankings changed. GAO's analysis of the 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report found that, compared with GAO's previous report in 2006, there were fewer instances in which minimum standards and criteria were not mentioned in the narratives. However, most narratives for the highest-ranked, or Tier 1, countries in the 2015 and 2016 reports did not explicitly explain the basis for the tier rankings. The narratives sometimes included language that seemed contradictory to certain standards and criteria. In addition, GAO found that, for countries that changed tier from one year to the next, most narratives did not provide an explicit explanation as to why the rankings changed. Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government states that information should be communicated in a way that is useful to internal and external users. Lacking such clarity could diminish the report's usefulness as a tool to advance efforts to combat trafficking.
State and other officials indicate that the Trafficking in Persons Report can be a useful tool to engage other countries about trafficking, but State has not systematically assessed the report's effectiveness. As a result, the effect of the report in encouraging governments to make progress in combating trafficking is not well understood. However, State officials stated that they are working on efforts to assess the report's effectiveness at achieving the goal of addressing trafficking worldwide.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is making four recommendations to the Secretary of State to improve the clarity and usefulness of the Trafficking in Persons Report by posting evidence to support downgrade waivers on State's website, improving explanations for tier rankings and changes, and assessing the effectiveness of the report as a tool to address trafficking. State agreed with GAO's recommendations.