Assessing Labour and Environmental Regimes in Regional Trading Arrangements

Abstract

This paper examines environmental and labour regimes in 28 leading RTAs. It identifies, where applicable, the various types of legal regimes governing labour and the environment within the territories of the parties to these agreements. The paper employs a multi-dimensional method of legal analysis to produce a comparative assessment of the scope and strength of relevant provisions in existing relevant RTAs. The paper argues that as the impact of other international law sources in the WTO, including labour and environmental law seems to be narrowing, the provisions regulating labour and the environment within RTAs are growing in both scope and judicial strength. These 'behind-the-border' regulatory commitments are made more enforceable when they are linked to trade agreements because trade retaliatory measures are potentially permitted in the event of non-compliance. RTAs have therefore become attractive alternative fora to negotiate non-trade regulations issues in exchange for market access concessions because they can link non-trade policy objectives within increasingly judicialized treaties. The paper contends that despite the shift towards including labour and environmental regulation within RTAs, there are clear limits to how far these regimes can promote these issues. This has implications for the necessity and effectiveness of using RTAs as a forum for this type of regime.