Lawmakers introduced the following trade-related bills since International Trade Today's last legislative update:
Lawmakers introduced the following trade-related bills since International Trade Today's last legislative update:
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is poised to fall far short of adequately addressing labor rights abuses in Mexico, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei, all of which are parties to Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, said the AFL-CIO in a scathing report released on Feb. 26 (here). To date, the U.S. is taking steps in the right direction by directing free trade agreement partners to honor the fundamental principles of the International Labor Organization by passing laws consistent with those principles, but U.S. FTAs don’t force partners to adopt ILO conventions.
The Labor Department updated its list of goods it believes to have been produced by child labor or forced labor to add two new goods (alcoholic beverages and meat), and one new country (Yemen), the agency said in a notice (here). The full report, including the updated list and a discussion of the list’s context, scope, methodology, and limitations, as well as frequently asked questions and a bibliography of sources, is available on the DOL website (here).
U.S. and Peruvian officials met in Lima on Oct. 17 to boost cooperation in combating labor rights violations, namely child and forced labor in Peru, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement. The two sides met to strengthen implementation of the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement, which went into force in 2009. The Oct. 17 meeting marks the second for the Labor Affairs Council, a working group created through the trade agreement. The U.S. and Peru aim to work together to “guarantee full implementation of the Labor Chapter” and, in particular, improve labor inspections in Peru, said the statement. Many members of the Obama administration, as well as their counterparts in the Peruvian government, attended the meeting, including Deputy Assistant USTR Carlos Romero.
A recently released, Department of Labor-funded study railed against worker rights and labor conditions in the Malaysian electronics sector. Migrant workers in the country are exploited through high recruitment fees and a complex recruitment process, insufficient legal protections and deception about “eventual working conditions,” said the study, conducted by Verité, a labor consultant firm. “The conditions faced by foreign electronics workers in Malaysia have the potential to result in forced labor,” it said. The study was based on the International Labor Organization’s survey guidelines, and Verité chose to define forced labor “narrowly,” it said. “Forced labor was found in the study sample in significant numbers across all major producing regions, electronics products, foreign worker nationalities, and among both female and male workers,” said the study. “These results suggest that forced labor is present in the Malaysian electronics industry in more than isolated incidents, and can indeed be characterized as widespread.” Among other concerning findings, Verité said more than 90 percent of foreign workers have their passports held by their broker or agent, and more than two-thirds of the sample said it was impossible or difficult to get their passports back.
The U.S. and Myanmar launched consultations to put a labor rights initiative into effect for the Southeast Asian nation by November, leaders from both countries said in a joint Aug. 28 statement. The initiative aims to create a “multi-year strategy for labor reform and capacity building,” the statement said. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said during separate remarks in Yangon, Myanmar the initiative will build off substantial progress in labor policy and practice already made in Myanmar . “Myanmar has made initial progress in the right direction on issues ranging from the right to organize to the use of forced labor, including children,” Froman said (here). “Over a thousand unions have registered and more are on their way.” The two countries traded more than $230 billion in goods and services in 2012, but much more progress can be made, added Froman.
Thirty retail industry, human rights and other advocacy organizations urged Obama administration officials in an Aug. 12 letter to ratchet up pressure to eliminate forced labor in the Uzbekistani cotton sector. The Uzbekistan government is poised to once again “coercively mobilize more than a million of their own citizens to pick cotton,” in the coming weeks as harvest season in the country begins, said the organizations, including the National Retail Federation and the American Apparel and Footwear Association. The administration officials should specifically pressure Uzbekistan to do the following:
Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
The Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America announced on July 9 a new guide on acceptable practices at footwear factories. The “Footwear Production Code of Conduct” will help “clearly communicate and uphold the social norms and values commonly held by FDRA members,” said FDRA in its release (here). The code of conduct includes sections on working conditions, hours, wages and benefits, as well as business integrity, compliance with the law, and subcontracting.