Employers' Handbook on ILO Standards-related Activities

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EMPLOYERS’ HANDBOOK ON ILO STANDARDS-RELATED ACTIVITIES
l It is more than doubtful that social policy objectives could be achieved by means
of trade sanctions or the threat of sanctions.
l Introducing trade sanctions would disturb the balanced ILO approach in promoting
ILS and could, as a result, weaken the impact of ILS.
l A “social clause” in the WTO rules could reinforce existing protectionist tendencies
and thus damage the world trade regime. As a consequence, economic growth,
which is the basis for social progress, would be impaired.
l There is no need for a “social clause”, as the ILO has taken important steps in
recent years to make its means of action more efficient and relevant. A case in
point is the adoption of the “Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at
Work and its Follow-up”. In addition, the GB has set up a Working Party to examine
and propose research on the social dimension of trade, including the relationship
between trade and labour standards (since March 2000 the Working Party’s
mandate has been extended to cover the social dimension of globalization). Finally,
the ILO has recently embarked on a substantial review of its ILS system
with a view to making it more effective (see Chapter IX).
For more detail, see:
l IOE: Statement on trade and labour standards for the WTO Ministerial Meeting,
Seattle, 30 Nov. - 3 Dec. 1999.
l OECD: International trade and core labour standards (Paris, 2000).
“Private” standard-setting initiatives
Challenges and opportunities for ILS also arise from the development of “private”
standard-setting initiatives in recent years. More and more internationally active enterprises
or sectors of industry are adopting policies and rules on labour standards which
sometimes take the form of codes of conduct. Some companies have formulated and
implemented their own standards, whereas others have cooperated with NGOs or trade
unions in this regard. Yet others have relied on the help of commercial agencies offering
model codes of conduct, including control and certification.
At the very origin of these “private” standard-setting activities has been the belief,
voiced in particular by NGOs, that, in the process of globalization, governments have
lost some of their power to set and enforce labour regulations and have left a vacuum in
this respect. NGOs claim that, as a consequence of this vacuum, labour standards are
not observed in many countries, particularly in developing nations. As a remedy, they
have called upon internationally active enterprises to ensure the application and effective
control of labour standards, in their own operations as well as in the operations of
their suppliers, contractors and licencees. In order to give weight to their demands,
NGOs have encouraged consumers in developed countries to boycott goods which, in
their view, have been produced under unacceptable conditions.
The employers in the ILO have acknowledged that enterprises are, of course,
obliged to respect and apply national labour laws. They have stated that, in addition,