Friday, November 6, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
LABOUR: Developing Countries Block ‘Social Clause’ in ILO
Gustavo Capdevila
- The non-aligned nations once again blocked an attempt by the industrialised North to impose a “social clause” that would condition international trade.
The non-aligned nations postponed discussions this week on a draft declaration by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that aimed to link trade with social norms.
The decision to propose the declaration at the June 1998 International Labour Conference was put off this week by the ILO governing body until March.
The majority of the non-aligned countries indicated their willingness to discuss the issue with the industrialised members of the ILO. But they stressed that “we must first reach agreement on the content” of the declaration, said Gustavo Castro, the ambassador from Colombia, the country currently presiding over the bloc.
In consultation with the ILO member states, the UN agency’s secretariat will draft a declaration to be studied during the governing body’s March session.
The non-aligned movement maintains that the declaration cannot create new obligations nor serve as the basis for redefining the ILO’s systems of monitoring compliance with the conventions, “nor can it serve as a pretext for establishing links between basic rights and international trade,” said Castro.
The immense majority of the Non-Aligned Movement’s 113 member states – including China – and five observers supported the bloc’s position, the Colombian delegate added.
The idea of conditioning trade on respect for basic rights, known as the “social clause,” was first brought up by developed countries in the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
But the December 1996 WTO ministerial conference in Singapore determined that the issue went beyond that body’s sphere of influence, and corresponded instead to the International Labour Organisation, as argued by the developing nations.
But when ILO Director-General Michel Hansenne brought up the question at last June’s conference, the non-aligned nations raised serious reservations.
While Hansenne left aside the proposal for a social clause, he suggested a revitalisation of the system of international labour norms through universal observance of the ILO conventions designed to protect the human rights of workers.
The seven conventions which the ILO sees as relevant are numbers 87 and 98 on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining, numbers 29 and 105 on Forced Labour, numbers 100 and 11 on Non- discrimination, and 138 on Minimum Age.
Hansenne’s proposal included a draft declaration in which the member countries would commit themselves to reinforcing mechanisms for promoting and enforcing the application of ILO principles.
But the plan was rejected in June by the non-aligned nations as “implicitly endorsing the social clause.”
The developing countries maintain that the social clause argument hides the industrialised world’s intention to deprive them of comparative advantages in trade.
At this week’s ILO governing body sessions which ended Thursday, the non-aligned bloc once again objected to the revitalisation of conventions through a declaration, as proposed by Hansenne.
The conventions must be ratified by each member country without pressure from outside. Otherwise, they are not binding, said Castro, who added that no matter how solemn, a declaration is non- binding.
The only way to establish enforceable commitments is through parliamentary ratification of the conventions, he asserted.
The Colombian ambassador pointed out that the great majority of industrialised countries want a declaration with implicit obligations, while the developing nations are pushing for a broader discussion of the question.
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LABOUR: Developing Countries Block ‘Social Clause’ in ILO
Gustavo Capdevila
- The non-aligned nations once again blocked an attempt by the industrialised North to impose a “social clause” that would condition international trade.
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