Mike Levin: “S. 434, the Trade and Development Act of 2000 Conference Report breaks important new ground in trade legislation. For…”

“S. 434, the Trade and Development Act of 2000 Conference Report breaks important new ground in trade legislation. For the first time, in exchange for granting unilateral trade benefits to a country, the President must give equal consideration to whether a country has met both trade criteria and labor standards. For example, before the favorable trade benefits available in this legislation can be granted, the President must determine not only that a country has demonstrated a commitment to undertaking its WTO obligations on or ahead of schedule, and the extent to which a country provides protection of intellectual property rights, but also the extent to which the country provides internationally recognized worker rights. Mr. President, I am pleased the Conference Report retained the Levin- Moynihan amendment requiring the President to take into consideration the extent to which a country provides internationally recognized worker rights, including child labor, collective bargaining, the use of forced or coerced labor, occupational health and safety and labor standards before the trade benefit can be granted to a Caribbean Basin beneficiary country.”