Corporate Social Responsibility and Necessary Gap-Filling of World Trade Law: A Small Essay on the Fashion Industry

Abstract

The paper addresses the limits of World Trade Organization (WTO) law in respect of protection of workers, human rights, animal welfare, and the environment. Instead, enterprises through their corporate social responsibilities (CSR) can fill in the legal gaps in providing protection of non-trade values. The challenge from a WTO perspective is the legitimate basis of state sovereignty which imposes limits on the scope of WTO law, although the article argues that on meta-level protection of non-trade values exists and is part of WTO law. The paper uses the ILO as example of cross-sectorial challenges between WTO law and other international law, and it uses the fashion industry as a case.

Keywords: CSR, WTO law, Fashion industry, Worker protection, Human rights, ILO

JEL Classification: K31, K32, K33, M14