While the WTO and Doha Development Round do not deal with labour issues – they leave this to the ILO – the main countries that conclude free trade agreements incorporate labour provisions, which vary in terms of stringency. Sanctions are rarely used, and fears that “social clauses” would...

The last multilateral trade negotiations chaired by the World Trade Organization met huge problems which could lead to failure. We examine the working of this negotiation process based on rules and power struggles. The increasing number of Member countries, the rule of consensus, the assertion...