Looking around the web for information on the proposed trade treaty with Latin America (DR-CAFTA), I bumped in this Heritage Foundation “defense” of the treaty:
- DR–CAFTA countries have adopted the core labor standards of the International Labor Organization.
- DR–CAFTA requires effective enforcement of labor regulations. Failure to comply would lead to monetary fines and/or the loss of preferential trade benefits.
- Programs have been designed to assist these countries in strengthening their institutional capacity to administer labor regulations effectively.
Have a look at the ILO standards and pity any poor country saddled with this regulatory apparatus. Then follows a perfunctory suggestion that regulations not be increased too much. I say “perfunctory” since the very next point assures us that with economic development “the desire and ability to implement labor protections and expend resources on their enforcement become stronger.”
