International Labor Standards In The Multilateral Trading System - And To Talk About China's Accession To The Wto On The Issue Of Labor Standards Should Be Taken Countermeasures

In recent years, the issue of international labor standard has been drawing the attention of the governments and the academic communities with its increasing importance under the globalization. In the meantime, this issue is becoming the conflicting point between the developing countries and the developed countries in the new round multilateral trade talks. This paper elaborates in three parts on the origin of international labor standard, its relations with international trade and economic development and problems in including labor standard into world trade system. The first part of the paper introduces the origin of the international labor standard and International Labor Organization at the beginning including the status of the International Labor Organization, basic international labor standards and conventions. The first part focuses its elaboration on the issue of inclusion of social clause into multilateral trading system under the framework established by the WTO Singapore Ministerial Declaration in 1996. It goes on to examine the procures designed to relate international labor standard with GATT articles by developed countries for applying social clause and points out its problems and impossibility in actual operation. The second part of the paper lays its emphasis on the theoretical analysis of the relationship between labor standard and international economy and trade. Beginning with the relations between labor standard and international trade, the paper says the developing countries as a whole do not benefit from trade with developed countries and their low export prices are the indication of low productivity, therefore, their existing labor advantage shall not be challenged. In the second place, the paper analyses the relations between labor standard and foreign direct investment. Low labor standard and low wage can not constitute the main factors in attracting FDI. In the third place, the paper makes an analysis on the relations between labor standard, employment and wage. The final section of the second part further points out social and political factors in promoting labor standard in developed countries. The third part of the paper indicates different attitudes of different countries on the labor standard clearly showing the chasm and conflicting interests between the North and South at the outset. It then makes suggestions on China stance on the labor standard issue in view of its entry into WTO in the near future.