Conditional or promotional trade agreements – Is enforcement possible?

Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) there has been an increase in the number of free trade agreements (FTAs) that include some form of social chapter that specifically deals with the protection of labour rights through the provision of labour standards.

This publication examines social or labour chapters in trade agreements, explores the reasons for their ineffectiveness and provides policy recommendations regarding the ongoing inclusion of labour standards within trade agreements. It is one of the outputs of the regional project Core Labour Standards Plus (CLS+), which was launched by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Asia in 2016. The project aims to promote and develop binding labour standards in trade and global value chains.