Implications for labour and social standards

The international consensus is that labour issues are most properly dealt with by the International Labour Organisation and there is no clear rationale for trade to be linked to labour issues. However, the Singapore WTO Ministerial meeting made a provision for a stronger relationship between the ILO and the WTO. The problem according to labour rights organisations is that the WTO has not pursued this closer relationship.

Many developed countries have been content to work with the consensus of the Singapore Ministerial, with the exception of the USA which has been eager to propose a work programme on labour standards in the WTO. The US' proposal is unpopular with most Member states and the position of other rich countries does not address the current problems.

Another approach is the proposal from the Third World Intellectuals and NGOs Statement against Linkages: other bodies should name and shame countries that fail to maintain standards of labour rights, the rights of children and environmental agreements through mechanisms similar to the WTO's own Trade Policy Review Mechanism. This would, they argue, ensure that all countries were exposed for abuses, not just those in the developing world. Trade and labour linkages could potentially be used by rich to protect themselves against poorer countries with lower standards. They do not argue that there are no 'interfaces' between trade and labour standards, only that they should be dealt with in a more appropriate forum.

This would require considerable changes in international organisations, including more equal relationships between each other. Currently the WTO appears to dominate the international policy arena.

The trade regime, particularly social clauses on trade or import bans, may not be the most appropriate tool to pursue the promotion of social or labour rights. However, a counter argument is that the trade regime should not be used to quash voluntary initiatives that promote the inclusion of social and environmental standards in trading relationships.

If there were changes to the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement in the WTO to recognise forest certification as a 'standard', there would be stricter controls on content of schemes and procedures to be followed. There may be some challenge to the 'social' principles in the FSC.

Many commentators have predicted that the most radical change possible at present is to grant the ILO official observer status at the WTO.
http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidtrade/

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