International Trade Agreements should respect Human Rights
The rules of the WTO must be compatible with existing international human rights standards to ensure that economic globalization does not lead to further inequities between rich and poor.
Montreal, March 24, 1999 The rules of the WTO must be compatible with existing international human rights standards to ensure that economic globalization does not lead to further inequities between rich and poor, the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (ICHRDD) said today.
In a brief submitted today to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the president of the International Centre, Warren Allmand, argued that human rights law has primacy over all other international laws.
"In the event of conflict, human rights law prevails," he told the Committee. Mr. Allmand said that all provisions of the WTO/GATT 1994 should be interpreted in a way to respect international human rights laws and that any new trade agreement should explicitly respect human rights norms.
The House of Commons Standing Committee is holding public hearings across Canada before the Millennium Round of the WTO Negotiations get under way in Seattle in December 1999.
Mr. Allmand said there are a number of areas in the present WTO rules where human rights action by governments is, or could be, challenged as an obstacle to trade. The International Centre is particularly concerned that voluntary codes of conduct may run afoul of WTO rules while government policies favouring corporate responsibility could be challenged.
Mr. Allmand said these negotiations are an "extraordinary opportunity" to reverse the trend of the last decade where globalization became an end in itself and human cost was ignored. Any global economic regime that does not address the issue of reducing inequities as part of its objectives "is missing the point" because "this is a human rights issue," he said.
Canada should use this next round of negotiations to ensure that WTO rules do not restrict the abilities of states or civil society to take action against human rights abuses. The WTO rules should not encourage human rights abuses in the name of liberalisation of trade.
Moreover, there is an urgent need for transparency in the WTO dispute settlement process. The present system is "largely secretive," since submissions made to the dispute resolution panel are confidential and are only released when state members choose to do so.
Transparency must also include the right to participate by those most affected by the decisions. Canada, said Mr. Allmand, should advocate transparency in the dispute settlement process and should push both for open dispute settlement hearings and a mechanism allowing interested third parties to make submissions. "The interests of a government may not always coincide with those of some or even most citizens. These citizens should not be denied a forum to have their points of view heard."
In its brief, the International Centre also urged the Canadian government to support the establishment of a joint ILO/WTO Working Group on the relationship between trade and trade-related International Human Rights Standards. At the same time, the government should actively promote the development of a WTO social clause to deal with all trade-related concerns.
Finally, Mr. Allmand urged the Canadian government to ensure that the WTO grants observer Status, prior to the Seattle meeting, to the ILO (International Labour Organization) and other specialized UN human rights agencies in order that they may attend the December 1999 to express their concerns and share their expertise.
For More Information
Patricia Poirier, Director of communications, ICHRDD Tel : (514) 283-6073 Fax: (514) 283-3792
