For some years, the international trade union movement and some NGOs have advocated the incorporation of clauses requiring respect for minimum social and environmental standards into international trade agreements. This view is supported by many banana workers' unions. A current campaign against sub-contracting in Central America (see Aseprola) has adopted the slogan "Labour Rights are not a Barrier to Trade".

The idea of introducing social and environmental clauses is that it would enable importers to discriminate against imports from countries which violated basic standards. In other words, there would still be the famous "level playing field", but only countries which respected minimum standards would be invited to play.

Given the diversity of geography and topography, establishing a set of universal environmental standards is not easy. However, the social dimension could be dealt with much more easily. The ILO Conventions have wide international acceptance and do set minimum standards. Most countries have already signed up to them, even though the standards are often ignored in practice. If discrimination were allowed under WTO rules against countries (or industries within them) which did not comply with the Conventions, this would provide a very strong incentive for producer governments to enforce the standards which they have mostly already ratified on paper.

A social clause referring to proper enforcement of the ILO Conventions need not present any great technical difficulties and could raise global standards rapidly, if for example a major importer like the EU started to impose tariff barriers against banana imports from countries which did not enforce the Conventions. Tariffs raised could also be recycled to fund the establishment and training of labour inspectorates in non-compliant countries, allowing them to enforce the standards and hence to avoid further discrimination against their products in subsequent years.

While such a strategy is potentially workable and practical, there are considerable political difficulties. At the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) first Ministerial Conference in Singapore in December 1996, when the issue of special clauses was raised, the only agreement between governments was that the ILO (International Labour Organisation) and the WTO should study the issue further. In Seattle, in November 1999, the US government's attempt to put 'labour standards' on the agenda again at the last minute was one of the factors in the collapse of the WTO talks. Probably the greatest obstacle today is China's un-preparedness to lose the economic comparative advantage, which it gains from denying basic human rights to its workers.

In the short to medium term, banana workers' union demands for such clauses to be involved in international trading agreements are unlikely to be heeded.

Further Reading

Protecting Labour Rights Through Trade Agreements: An Analytical Guide, Paper On NAFTA Labour Rights By Sandra Polaski, University Of California

The Importance Of Social And Environmental Clausing For A Sustainable Banana Industry By Herman Van Beek 1998

Documents Available From Banana Link

TRAIDE Briefing -  For a Social and Environmental banana production and trade:  Mission Possible!  1996 £2.50

Of Carrots and Sticks   A collection of articles looking at the potential  for the inclusion of minimum social and environmental criteria into international trade agreements.1997 £2.50

Report on the Social and Environmental Clausing Seminar - what the EU, the WTO and the ILO had to say about the prospects for minimum labour and environmental standards in the international banana trade. 1997 £2.50