Labour standards in the World Trade Organization

Labour standards in the World Trade Organization are binding rules, which form a part of the jurisprudence and principles applied within the rule making institutions of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Labour standards play an implicit, but not an overt role within the WTO, however it forms a prominent issue facing the WTO today, and has generated a wealth of academic debate.

The debate about the extent to which the WTO should recognise labour standards is typically based on the principles found in Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), as well as mainstream human rights treaties, most prominently, the International Bill of Human Rights.

WTO overview

The WTO is an international institution that deals with the rules of trade between countries with the view of inter alia "raising standards of living, [and] ensuring full employment…". This is achieved through a series of trade liberalising agreements based on consensus from the WTO's 164 members who form the General Council. The General Council, sitting as the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) has the jurisdictional power to solve disputes brought before it, and is able to approve trade restrictive measures to enforce compliance with agreements. The WTO's dispute settlement process is compulsory and the DSB's recommendations and rulings immediately become binding international law.

History of the WTO

The WTO has its origins in the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference which was convened by the Allied nations towards the end of World War II with the aim of establishing an international economic order. Although the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (now known as the World Bank) were created, the International Trade Organisation (ITO), the forerunner of the WTO, was only a proposition at this point. It was not until 1947 that negotiations were concluded and the ITO came into being.