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| HUMAN RIGHTS and TRADE: What is the Relationship? |
| WHAT DO WE KNOW?
●Trade policies and agreements can both promote and undermine human rights. It depends on the trade agreement(s) and the human right (s) in question ●Different types of trade affect rights differently ●Empirical studies thus far reveal counterintuitive results: Trade seems to stimulate greater levels of government respect for physical integrity rights but not greater respect for civil and political rights, or labor rights
| | WHAT QUESTIONS SHOULD WE ASK? ●Are there particular trade agreements that raise more human rights concerns? ●Are there particular human rights most affected by trade or trade agreements?
| | WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
●Failure to coordinate trade and human rights undermine achievement of both policy goals ●We all have a collective responsibility to uphold human rights
●Business, the most important agent of globalization, is often caught between market forces, failure of state actors to protect human rights, and unclear WTO rules
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| WHAT SHOULD POLICYMAKERS DO? | 9 Recommendations for Policymakers to Encourage Greater Coherence between their Trade and Human Rights Objectives and Policies | | Recommendation | Strategy | | Make a Policy Determination that Trade and Human Rights Should Be Coordinated | Respond to public concerns; make strategies to address globalization more coherent. | | Reform National Trade Policymaking Process | Develop a channel for human rights concerns to enter the policymaking process. Set up an advisory system. Include human rights policymakers and advocates in decision-making process. | | Task Advisors to Weigh Human Rights Concerns | Ask the right questions when making public policy decisions | | Create Coalition of the Willing at the WTO | Member states should jointly request the WTO to study the relationship between WTO rules and human rights rules; encourage Director General to appoint a human rights liaison; Set up a working group to examine trade in conflict zones and export processing zones. | | Encourage Business to make Human Rights a Business Priority | Policymakers should send a consistent message that human rights are important and clarify their human rights expectations of international business. | | Clarify Relationships | Member states should request that WTO staff examine how social labeling and procurement policies can be designed so they do not distort trade. | | Encourage and Disseminate Research | Ask scholars and human rights advocates to do research, test research, and disseminate it. | | Explore Human Rights Impact Assessments | Governments and foundations should fund research and testing of human rights assessments. | | US and EU Labor Rights Collaboration | The two governments should work together to promote a consistent message that labor rights are important and help their trade partners improve the demand for labor rights and increase the expertise of government officials to protect labor rights. | |
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