TEPSA has recently coordinated a publication for the European Parliament’s Subcommittee the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) on Labour rights in GSP+ beneficiary countries with a focus on Export Processing Zones. The publication was prepared by Benjamin Richardson (Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick), James Harrison (Associate Professor in the School of Law at the University of Warwick) and Liam Campling (Programme Director of the International Business and Politics MSc at Queen Mary University London).
The European Union’s GSP+ scheme provides trade concessions to beneficiary countries and obliges them to ratify and effectively implement key international conventions on human rights and labour rights. The sectoral gains of GSP+ have thus far been concentrated on exports of apparel, textiles and processed fish. Such sectors are often located in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) where the governance of labour rights may differ from the rest of the country and fall below international legal standards. This study examines the apparel sectors of Pakistan, Mongolia and Sri Lanka and the processed fish sector of the Philippines. The importance of EPZs to exports under the GSP+ varies by country and sector. Only in Pakistan are EPZs legally exempt from rights relating to freedom of association and collective bargaining. But restrictions on these and other rights in practice remain widespread, and are not confined to EPZs. Efforts to promote labour rights through the GSP+ should focus on key export sectors benefitting from the scheme and consider EPZs alongside other sites of the supply chain where exploited workers are based.
To read the full report, click here.