Trade Policies and Agreements and Human Rights

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Trade Policies and Agreements and Human Rights

• What is the relationship?

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Trade policies and agreements are key tools to
govern globalization. Do these agreements help
responsible parties promote human rights?
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To first understand trade and human rights

• One must gain greater understanding of the
  relationship between human rights, institutions,
  and economic growth.
• Work of Amartya Sen, Jean Dreze, Robert Barro
  (and institutional economists such as North and
  Rodrik ) is central.

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Economic growth and human rights What dont we
know?

• Relatively little empirical data
• We dont know what if any rights facilitate
  economic growth or if certain rights are
  undermined or enhanced at certain stages of
  economic growth.

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What do we know?

• Growth is a means of achieving human rights
  protections.
• We are not talking about Right to Development
  but 26 core rights in UN Declaration.
• Education good example (Uganda) right to ed.
  Reduces inequalities in access between gender and
  religious groups. India good example (Dreze and
  Sen, 2002).
• Right to information (Stiglitz) leads to
  efficiencies, greater accountability, civil
  society as a check on abuses of power.
• Right to food

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Key questions

• 1. Does trade promote the rule of law and, over
  time, democratization?
• 2.What do trade agreements say about trade and
  human rights?
• 3. When/how can trade objectives and human rights
  objectives come into conflict?
• 4. Are there particular trade agreements that
  raise more human rights concerns?
• 5. Are there particular human rights most
  affected by trade?

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Why should you care about this?

• Failure to coordinate trade and human rights can
  undermine achievement of both policy goals
• Collective responsibility to uphold human rights

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Why should you care about conflict trade and
human rights?

• Business, the most important agency of
  globalization, is often caught between market
  forces, failure of state actors to protect human
  rights and unclear WTO rules.

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Policymakers claim trade promotes human rights

• Prominent examples China Normal Trade Relations,
  but more recently CAFTA and the Middle East.

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How might trade promote human rights and improved
governance?

• Claim trade stimulates an export-oriented middle
  class who will gradually press for openness, good
  governance and human rights protection.

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Trade agreement critics say

• Trade undermines human rights

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Empirical studies thus far

• Reveal counterintuitive result
• Better levels of government respect for physical
  integrity rights (e.g. torture) but not greater
  respect for civil or political rights.

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Evidence B

• Different types of trade affects rights
  differently.

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Evidence C

• States with better human rights records receive
  more investment and more trade. (China big
  exception)

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Our understanding of the Relationship is evolving

• In cold war era, policymakers claimed that trade
  could stimulate economic development and support
  democratic regimes.
• Although bulk of investment flowed to
  industrialized world, some went to countries
  with repressive governments, where human rights
  were not adequately protected.

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What do we know about trade and human rights?

• With end of cold war, more countries compete for
  investment Good governance including promotion
  protection of human rights, can be criteria to
  attract investment.

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The negative spotlight

• Business doesnt want to be seen by consumers,
  investors, or other stakeholders as undermining
  human rights.

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What do trade agreements say about human rights?

• WTO no human rights criteria for accession
• Ban on trade goods made by prison labor
• Article XX allows nations to ban imports for
  moral reasons
• Human rights have never been the subject of a
  trade dispute

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Human rights which may be undermined by some
trade agreements

• Right to food
• Right to fruits of own labor (slave or child
  labor)
• Right to health
• Right to development

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What should policymakers do?

• Examine alleged conflicts between trade
  agreements and human rights.
• Develop ways to examine human rights impact of
  trade agreements
• Find ways to achieve both trade expansion and
  human rights objectives

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Trade and Human Rights Partnership Project