Assessment of labour provisions in trade and investment arrangements

Nearly half of trade agreements concluded in the past five years included either a labour chapter or labour provision that makes reference to international labour standards and ILO instruments.

The evidence so far suggests that labour provisions have been an important tool for raising awareness and improving laws and legislations with respect to workers’ rights, increasing stakeholder involvement in negotiation and implementation phases, and developing domestic institutions to better monitor and enforce labour standards. But challenges remain, particularly with respect to sustainability of impacts, coherence, and cooperative efforts.

This report, part of the Studies on Growth with Equity series, gives a full examination of the scope and effectiveness of these labour provisions.