GAO Criticizes Labor, Environment Enforcement in FTA Partner Countries
The Obama administration is failing to fully enforce labor provisions in U.S. free trade agreements, and FTA partners are also coming up short in implementing environmental reform, the Government Accountability Office said in two reports released on Nov. 13. The GAO reviewed labor enforcement in the Central American Free Trade Agreement, as well as FTAs with Colombia, Peru and Oman (here).
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The Department of Labor has investigated several complaints about labor violations in these countries, namely the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru, but Labor resolved the case with Peru. Violations range from child labor to infringements on collective bargaining. Democratic trade critics and labor advocates railed against the reports.
“Labor provisions in existing free trade agreements have not been consistently monitored or enforced, and investigations into violations have been subject to extensive delays, both of which have contributed to the persistence of problematic labor conditions,” said House Ways and Means ranking member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., and House Education and the Workforce ranking member George Miller, D-Calif., said in a statement (here). “The magnitude has been highlighted by the continuing threats and violence in Colombia against workers who seek to exercise their right to associate and in Bangladesh, where millions work in the apparel industry under abysmal conditions and without any voice in the workplace. We also have witnessed firsthand the necessary role of labor and environmental provisions in trade agreements in our travels to other nations, including Honduras, Guatemala, and Peru.” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., also said the reports show the U.S. should discontinue pursuit of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (here).
The GAO environment report analyzed reform in Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru (here). All those countries improved environmental enforcement to varying degrees, but the four nations still face challenges, said GAO. U.S. funding for environment cooperation initiatives with these countries has declined since 2009, the report added.