The Issue Of Labor Standards In The Wto Framework Study

Whether labor standards should be incorporated into the WTO and other trade agreements has become one of the hot topics for discussion in WTO. In Doha Negotiations 2001, environmental standards as social problems have been definitely incorporated by a new round multilateral negotiatioa Though labor standards have not been written into the new round multilateral negotiations, in bilateral negotiations it has gained a breakthrough. In the free - trade agreement between America and Jordan, America and Singapore, America and Chile, labor standards has been covered These progresses are sure to accelerate international trade combining with labor standards in multilateral trade negotiations.Beginning with introducing the conflict of labor standards between developing and developed countries in GATT/WTO history, this thesis expounds the meaning, contents and legal sources of WTO labor standards, analyses the points of the both sides, and according to the labor phenomena in Chinese enterprises, remarks on labor standards conflicts. Based on these considerations, this thesis points out that it is of necessity that WTO incorporates labor standards.On this problem China should not only discuss passively whether we should accept the standards, but also should participate in the standards constituting. On one hand, we should cooperate with the developed countries in order to obtain more advanced technology and favorable trade arrangements. On the other hand, we also cooperate more closely with developing countries and strive for new labor standards that will benefit developing countries. At the same time, China and other developing countries should reach a compromise to avoid some leveling down labor standards of some developing countries in order to attract FDI. Moreover, this thesis analyses the differences of labor standards between WTO and China, points out the imperfections of Chinese labor standards and gives proposals to improve Chinese Labor Law.