Environmental And Labor Standards: What Role For The World Trade Organization?

Abstract

While social policies, particularly environmental and labor standards, are not new to trade policy fora, they are likely to have a more prominent role in the years ahead for the new World Trade Organization. Many developing countries perceive the entwining of these social issues with trade policy as a threat to both their sovereignty and their economies, while significant groups in advanced economies consider it unfair, ecologically unsound, even immoral to trade with countries adopting much lower social standards than theirs. This paper examines why these issues are becoming more prominent, why they are being entwined with trade policy, why this is a concern to liberal traders, and what roles if any the World Trade Organization (as compared with other multilateral fora) should play in providing the international rules and other institutional support needed for ensuring adequate environmental and labor standards. Show more