While the linking of trade liberalization with the protection of workers’ rights remains controversial, the practice of including labour clauses in free trade agreements is gaining currency. Reviewing wider efforts to promote labour standards and the other economic and other arguments for doing so, the authors examine the labour clauses contained in recent trade agreements, focusing on their effectiveness in protecting internationally recognized workers’ rights. Some agreements offer promising avenues for promoting these rights (e.g. trade incentives, capacity building) but their main weakness lies in supervision, particularly in countries that have not ratified the relevant ILO Conventions.

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