The WTO Distraction
32 Pages Posted: 29 Aug 2010 Last revised: 12 Sep 2010
Date Written: July 1, 2010
Abstract
This Article argues that the desire and efforts to incorporate labor standards into the WTO framework are misplaced. While this argument has often been made on economic grounds by scholars who oppose linkage more generally, this Article puts forth legal, political, and institutional arguments that suggest that incorporating labor issues into the WTO regime is both unlikely and in fact less desirable than doing so in other trade contexts. A more fruitful and effective locus for linkage, it is thus argued, is bilateral and regionally based trade and labor regimes that a) are grounded in development objectives, and that b) integrate non-state, private regulatory regimes that harness the power of non-state actors to effectively regulate labor along global supply chains.
Keywords: trade, international labor, labor rights, WTO, development
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