Labour Standards as a Justification for Trade Barriers.pdf

Labour Standards as a Justification Labour Standards as a Justification for Trade Barriers: for Trade Barriers: Consumer Concerns, Protectionism Consumer Concerns, Protectionism and the Evidence and the Evidence Samira Bakhshi Department of Bioresource Policy, Business and Economics University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada and William A. Kerr Van Vliet Professor University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada Presented at the joint CAES-CATPRN Workshop – Quebec City, October 23, 2009 Labour Costs and Labour Costs and Protectionism Protectionism • Seeking protection against low cost labour is as old as trade policy • Many grandfathered protectionist measures in the GATT have their roots in protection against low cost labour • In agriculture – combinations of low cost labour and agronomic advantages (e.g. sugar, cotton, rice). • New measures against low cost labour largely denied at GATT Labour Standards and Labour Standards and Protectionism Protectionism • With protection against low cost labour largely denied in GATT, protectionist efforts have moved to labour standards issues • A historical artefact has kept labour standards off the GATT/WTO agenda Multilateral jurisdiction over labour standards belongs to the International Labour Organization (ILO) The only WTO provisions for imposition of trade barriers is in the case of Prison Labour (Article XX(g) Labour Standards and Labour Standards and Protectionism Protectionism • A number of labour standard convent