Trade And Labour Standards

Trade and labour standards in Global Commerce Policy

In this regard, trade and labour standards is: one of the new trade issues. The entries on trade policy are here. It is concerned with the question whether trade rules should be used to promote minimum labour standards in exporting countries. Like others of these new trade issues, it has actually been around for some time. Some trace it back to the anti-slavery campaigns of the nineteenth century. The 1919 constitution of the International Labour Organization had the adoption and promotion of labour standards as a main objective. Some consider that the concept of “fair labour standards” derives from Article 23(a) of the Covenant of the League of Nations in which members endeavoured “to secure and maintain fair and humane conditions of labour for men, women and children both in their own countries and in all the countries to which their commercial and industrial relations extend”. The Atlantic Charter of 1941 sought to secure “for all, improved labour standards, economic advancement and social security”. The entries on trade policy are here. In 1943, the International Labour Office recommended that “wherever existing conditions are unsatisfactory, there should be arrangements to ensure that labour employed in the production of controlled commodities receive fair remuneration and adequate social security protection and that other conditions of employment are satisfactory”. The link between international trade and labour standards was made more explicit in Article 7(1) of the Havana Charter which noted that “unfair labour conditions, particularly in production for export, create difficulties in international trade, and, accordingly, each Member shall take whatever action may be appropriate and feasible to eliminate such conditions within its territory”. Some of the international commodity arrangements also contain provisions exhorting members to promote fair labour standards. See also child labour, core labour standards, social clause, social dumping, social subsidies and trade and human rights.[1]

Trade and labour standardsin the wold Encyclopedia

For an introductory overview on international trade policy, see this entry.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Dictionary of Trade Policy, “Trade and labour standards” entry (OAS)

See Also