Research Legal Issues Of International Child Labor Standards

With the efforts of international labor compaigns, the child labor protection now is an international issue and a widely accepted international child labor standars, as part of international labor standards, has already had its root worldwide. Nowadays, the trend of economic globalization pushes the child labor standards to the international trade area and becomes a part of the blue trade barrier, namely the social trade barriers, the source of growing trade conflicts which captivate China as its victim.This essay tries to see into the child labor standards issue and study the related legal problems in the international trade area, in order to find China a strategy when confronted with such barrier. The essay has four major chapters as follows:The first chapter concerns the historic reason that why child labor protection becomes a worldwide compaign and concludes several situations in which the child labor issue is connected with international trade, such as the debate of entry of social clause into WTO. A perspective of international relations is used in analysing the reason of such connection and the chapter conludes that the connection results from the degradation of economic sovereignty and the rising of new trade protectionism.The second chapter adopts a nomological view in analysing the legal sources of international labor standards, which include international conventions and various forms of soft law. The chapter also covers the argument about the entry of social clause into WTO and other debates about the elimination of child labor.The third chapter relates the enforcement subjects of the child labor standards such as nations, EU and multi-international enterprises. The chapter also notices the new trends of the enforcement of the child labor standards and points out the disadvantages of them.The fourth chapter admits that the child labor problem is an issue that can not be solved thoroughly under the current social and economic situation of China and there is still a gap between the domestic child labor-related law and the international child labor standards. By analysing China's position in the international relations, the chapter concludes that China shall clarify its standpoint and adopt a flexible policy backed by a large view of the whole international relation issue in regard to the child labor standards. Further, in order to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding and also improve domestic child labor elimination work, China shall enhance cooperation with international labor organizations and human rights oganizations.