Labor Groups Cautiously Welcome US-Jordan FTA

 
The announcement that the United States had signed a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with Jordan was greeted with optimism in some unexpected quarters. Labor and environmental groups hailed this late-term effort by the Clinton administration for breaking new ground. Most important, labor and environmental questions were incorporated into the body of the text. This is an improvement over the NAFTA side agreements that relegated labor and the environmental concerns to elaborate, but separate mechanisms. Another novelty is the aspect of enforcement. While there can be no comparison between the application of standards in intellectual property and the timid attempts at an appearance of enforcement of worker rights, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney greeted the FTA's wording with optimism.

Congressional approval of the agreement remains in doubt, however. The Jordanian FTA will not be submitted to Congress under fast track legislation. Most parties believe that it will be easier to find support in Congress for a straightforward bilateral treaty, as well as the fact that this particular agreement can be pitched as part of efforts toward a Mid-East peace settlement. Jordan after all is a key ally of US efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. The FTA's fate will be up to the new Congress during the last days of the Clinton administration.

In late November, President Clinton and President Ricardo Lagos of Chile attempted to negotiate a free trade agreement that also incorporated labor and environmental issues directly into the main body of the text. However, the Chilean president, facing strong business and political opposition at home, was quick to state that there would be no question of sacrificing his nation's sovereignty in any enforcement of international standards. This is sure to cool the enthusiasm of worker rights organizations and the AFL-CIO for any FTA with Chile. These organizations want to get some sort of parity between the enforcement of intellectual property rights and worker rights, something that is not on the table at this moment, either in the case of Jordan or Chile.

The environmental and labor sections of the Jordan FTA can be found below:

AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AND THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN
ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A FREE TRADE AREA

ARTICLE 5: ENVIRONMENT
1. The Parties recognize that it is inappropriate to encourage trade by relaxing domestic environmental laws. Accordingly, each Party shall strive to ensure that it does not waive or otherwise derogate from, or offer to waive or otherwise derogate from, such laws as an encouragement for trade with the other Party.

2. Recognizing the right of each Party to establish its own levels of domestic environmental protection and environmental development policies and priorities, and to adopt or modify accordingly its environmental laws, each Party shall strive to ensure that its laws provide for high levels of environmental protection and shall strive to continue to improve those laws.

3. (a) A Party shall not fail to effectively enforce its environmental laws, through a sustained or recurring course of action or inaction, in a manner affecting trade between the Parties, after the date of entry into force of this Agreement.
(b) The Parties recognize that each Party retains the right to exercise discretion with respect to investigatory, prosecutorial, regulatory, and compliance matters and to make decisions regarding the allocation of resources to enforcement with respect to other environmental matters determined to have higher priorities. Accordingly, the Parties understand that a Party is in compliance with subparagraph (a) where a course of action or inaction reflects a reasonable exercise of such discretion, or results from a bona fide decision regarding the allocation of resources.

4. For purposes of this Article, "environmental laws" mean any statutes or regulations of a Party, or provision thereof, the primary purpose of which is the protection of the environment, or the prevention of a danger to human, animal, or plant life or health, through:
(a) the prevention, abatement or control of the release, discharge, or emission of pollutants or environmental contaminants;
(b) the control of environmentally hazardous or toxic chemicals, substances, materials and wastes, and the dissemination of information related thereto; or
(c) the protection or conservation of wild flora or fauna, including endangered species, their habitat, and specially protected natural areas in the Party's territory, but does not include any statutes or regulations, or provision thereof, directly related to worker safety or health.

ARTICLE 6: LABOR
1. The Parties reaffirm their obligations as members of the International Labor Organization ("ILO") and their commitments under the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up. The Parties shall strive to ensure that such labor principles and the internationally recognized labor rights set forth in paragraph 6 are recognized and protected by domestic law.
 
2. The Parties recognize that it is inappropriate to encourage trade by relaxing domestic labor laws. Accordingly, each Party shall strive to ensure that it does not waive or otherwise derogate from, or offer to waive or otherwise derogate from, such laws as an encouragement for trade with the other Party.
 
3. Recognizing the right of each Party to establish its own domestic labor standards, and to adopt or modify accordingly its labor laws and regulations, each Party shall strive to ensure that its laws provide for labor standards consistent with the internationally recognized labor rights set forth in paragraph 6 and shall strive to improve those standards in that light.
 
4. (a) A Party shall not fail to effectively enforce its labor laws, through a sustained or recurring course of action or inaction, in a manner affecting trade between the Parties, after the date of entry into force of this Agreement.
(b) The Parties recognize that each Party retains the right to exercise discretion with respect to investigatory, prosecutorial, regulatory, and compliance matters and to make decisions regarding the allocation of resources to enforcement with respect to other labor matters determined to have higher priorities. Accordingly, the Parties understand that a Party is in compliance with subparagraph (a) where a course of action or inaction reflects a reasonable exercise of such discretion, or results from a bona fide decision regarding the allocation of resources.
 
5. The Parties recognize that cooperation between them provides enhanced opportunities to improve labor standards. The Joint Committee established under Article 15 shall, during its regular sessions, consider any such opportunity identified by a Party.
 
6. For purposes of this Article, "labor laws" means statutes and regulations, or provisions thereof, that are directly related to the following internationally recognized labor rights:
(a) the right of association;
(b) the right to organize and bargain collectively;
(c) a prohibition on the use of any form of forced or compulsory labor;
(d) a minimum age for the employment of children; and
(e) acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health.