Resource guide on export processing zones (EPZs)

"As an important feature of globalization, EPZs have been monitored by the ILO for over 20 years. Zones take many forms, including free trade zones, special economic zones, bonded warehouses, free ports and maquiladoras.
The ILO has defined EPZs as "industrial zones with special incentives set up to attract foreign investors, in which imported materials undergo some degree of processing before being (re)exported again".

Employment and social policy in respect of export processing zones (EPZs), Governing Body, 286th Session, Geneva, 2003 (pdf 138 KB)

On this page: Find information on export processing zones through Labordoc • International Labour Standards • Statistics • Key ILO documents • ILO databases • ILO links • External links • Photos

Find information on export processing zones through Labordoc

• ILO publications on export processing zones
• All publications on export processing zones available in Labordoc

International Labour Standards

Conventions

• C87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948
• C98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention , 1949
• C100 Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951
• C111 Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958
• C122 Employment Policy Convention, 1964
• C135 Workers' Representatives Convention, 1971
• C156 Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981
• C158 Termination of Employment Convention, 1982
• C169 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989

Recommendations

• R90 Equal Remuneration Recommendation, 1951
• R165 Workers with Family Responsibilities Recommendation, 1981
• R166 Termination of Employment Recommendation, 1982

International labour standards can be found in the NORMLEX database.

Statistics

• ILO: ILO database on export processing zones (Revised), 2007 (pdf 149 KB)
• World Bank: Special economic zones : progress, emerging challenges, and future directions, 2011


• You will find statistics on the topic in the following selection of publications.