[2] The WTO is an international institution that deals with the rules of trade between countries with the view of inter alia "raising standards of living, [and] ensuring full employment…".
[6] The WTO has its origins in the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference which was convened by the Allied nations towards the end of World War II with the aim of establishing an international economic order.
In the Havana Charter, the text of the ITO, Article 7 pertained specifically to fair labour standards, requiring that members of the organisation must, amongst other things, "take fully into account the rights of workers under inter-governmental declarations, conventions and agreements" and recognise "that all countries have a common interest in the achievement and maintenance of fair labour standards related to productivity, and thus in the improvement of wages and working conditions as productivity may permit".
The effects of GATT are still felt and some commentators have described the WTO as the one major international governance organisation that does not examine the impact of its policies upon the ability of member states to advance human rights.
[8] Since the formation of the WTO in 1995 there have been increasing calls for action on the labour standards issue,[10] and requests for a "human face on the world economy".
Recognising human rights and specifically core labour standards in the WTO raises a series of thorny political, and in some cases moral, questions.
The highly democratic nature of the WTO compounds this problem because consensus needs to be reached before any major decisions are made, meaning each country effectively carries the power of veto, sometimes making it difficult to achieve real progress.
[22] Since the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, sovereignty has been a key principle of the international system, with states being free from any higher legal authority with the entitlement to exclusive, unqualified, and supreme rule within a delimited territory.
Human rights law results in an unprecedented number of controls on domestic behaviour, "challenging the traditional legal concept of state sovereignty".
In order to gain a comparative advantage and attract foreign investment, countries deregulate which leads to a decrease in working conditions and wages.
The comparative wage advantage is an essential part of the world economic order so there is a general opposition to the incorporation of labour standards within the WTO.
[8] Developing countries also hold legitimate fears that the attempts to incorporate labour standards may be used as a thinly veiled protectionist measure.
[9]: 1014 One of the reasons for this is that even when trade restrictive measures are successfully applied to a state, GATT Article 1, the principle of most favoured nation treatment, comes into play.
The wording in the relevant sections of GATT Article XX means that it must be proved that it is "necessary" to restrict a product in order to protect human, animal or plant life or health.
Even if the necessity test is satisfied, the chapeau to Article XX must also be satisfied- the laws must not be applied in a manner so as to constitute arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination, nor be a disguised restriction on international trade.
For example, the worst forms of child labour are a heinous practice which fall within the Article XX exception (b) yet children cannot be protected under this because it is their work conditions which are harmful, not the products themselves.
As a result of dispute settlement proceedings, the DSB could, at the request of the complaining party, recommend that retaliatory trade measures be taken against the offending country.
One reason for this is because when the DSB rules that trade sanctions are allowed in response to a violation of one of the agreements, it is up to the wronged country to choose what products it will restrict.
[34] Originally however, the ITO was supposed to have a strong working relationship with the ILO and "consult and co-operate" in all labour related matters, as well as cooperating in regards economic development and reconstruction.
[37] During the Geneva Ministerial Conference, the US, EU and South Africa pushed again for a more substantive relationship between the two organisations which was opposed by a group of developing countries, led by Brazil.
Furthermore, civil society groups are in an ideal position to put pressure on governments to uphold their human rights commitments, and monitor any progress in this field.
The term NGO passed into popular usage in the early 1970s and has come to mean a non-profit organisation that has specific objectives that is independent from the government, non-criminal, non-violent, not a political party.
The WTO is a strictly intergovernmental organisation, which means that civil society has no direct input, and much decision-making takes place behind closed doors.
Unlike many domestic judicial systems, the WTO does not allow public scrutiny of proceedings, and it is this, rather than lack of any textual mechanism, that impedes NGO involvement.
In the aftermath of the Geneva Ministerial Conference in 1998, US President Bill Clinton said that "The WTO was created to lift the lives of ordinary citizens', it should listen to them.
Incorporation of core labour standards into the preamble would also lead to the examination of human rights abuses through existing WTO review mechanisms.
In 1988 the decision was made to make regular reviews of state's trade policy conducted by the WTO, a key part of the transparency of the organisation.
[45] Governments submit information to the WTO Secretariat who issue a report which is then examined by the General Council sitting as the Trade Policy Review Body.
Government policies are reviewed in relation to the "functioning of the multilateral trading system" so as to encourage adherence to commitments under the agreements, and greater transparency.
Although states are not forced to act on any labour standards abuses that may be found within their territories, the public acknowledgement of their existence could provide fuel for human rights groups and victims.