U.S. Department of State

The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, passed by the Congress and signed into law by the President in December 2003, requires the Department of State to submit to the Congress an Interim Assessment of the progress made by countries on the September 2004 Special Watch List to combat trafficking in persons (TIP) since the June 2004 annual report.

This year 49 countries are on the Special Watch List. These countries either 1) had moved up a tier in the TIP Report over the last year or 2) were ranked on Tier 2 in the TIP Report but a) had not shown evidence of increasing efforts to address TIP, b) were placed on Tier 2 because of commitments to carry out additional future actions over the coming year, or c) had a large or growing number of trafficking victims. 46 of the 49 countries on the Special Watch List are in the second category--ranked as "Tier 2 Watch List,"--including four countries initially ranked as "Tier 3" in the June 2004 TIP Report, but reassessed as Tier 2 Watch List countries by the State Department in September 2004 (Bangladesh, Ecuador, Guyana, and Sierra Leone).

The Interim Assessment is intended to serve as a tool by which to gauge the anti trafficking progress of countries that are in danger of slipping a tier in the upcoming June 2005 TIP Report, particularly those in danger of slipping to Tier 3. It serves as a tightly focused progress report, assessing progress a government has made in addressing the relevant country?s key deficiencies highlighted in the June 2004 TIP Report. The Interim Assessment concentrates on concrete actions governments have taken since the annual June 2004 TIP Report. Effectively this is a May through November timeframe, given the time that is needed to draft and publish the June TIP Report and this Interim Assessment. Readers are requested to refer back to the annual TIP Report for an analysis of large scale efforts and a description of the trafficking problem in each particular country.