October 2013

The European Union Free Trade Agreement with Colombia and Peru

This briefing has been produced by the Peru Support Group, an NGO that works with parliamentarians, researchers and campaigners to promote human rights and social inclusion. It was founded in 1983 and our president is Baroness Coussins.

Summary

The new Free Trade Agreement between the European Union, Peru and Colombia took effect on 1 August.The treaty’s human rights clause has been hailed by the UK Government as an important step. However, the European Commission’s impact assessment advised that, “Without appropriate flanking measures and safeguards, the implementation of the agreement may have significant impacts on human rights, and labour and environmental standards in Colombia and Peru.”Concerns around these issues led three major German opposition parties to vote against the ratification of the treaty earlier this year. In considering the ratification of the FTA, we recommend that members of Parliament take into account that:

  • The FTA does not include a mechanism to monitor its human rights clause.
  • There is no means of enforcing labour or environmental standards where abuses do not reach the level of human rights violations, which MEPs were advised “may make it difficult for the EU to live up to its own legal responsibilities.”
  • MEPs asked Peru and Colombia to produce human rights ‘road maps’ that would set out action on areas of concern. Key measures in the Peruvian documentare not being upheld, including implementation of the Law on Prior Consultation of Indigenous Peoples and publication of the National Human Rights Plan.

Recommendation 1: Establish a mechanism to monitor the human rights clause

Each party to the agreement is entitled to take action if the other violates the human rights clause, including suspending obligations set out in the agreement. However, there is no mechanism to monitorwhether any violations are occurring – whereas dedicated subcommittees were established tooversee market access and labour and environmental issues. It appears that human rights are to be discussed within the Trade Committee set up by the FTA, but a study commissioned by the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament noted that it is “self-evidently inappropriate for the main organ of the agreement, [the] ‘Trade Committee’, to have the primary competence to deal with issues arising under the human rights clause.” In addition, civil society is not represented at that level. A further area of concern is the failure of the impact assessment or country human rights documents to consider the FTA’s potential negative impacts on women, who face discrimination in sectors expected to expand as a result of the FTA, such as agro-export.

Recommendation 2: Ensure labour and environmental standards are enforceable

The EC’s impact assessment identifies several areas in which the FTA may have a significant impact on the environment, including increased deforestation and pollution as a result of the expansion of agriculture and industry. It also notes that restrictions on workers’ rights in key sectors are expected to obstruct benefits. For example, “While employment in the large-scale formal mining sector is expected to increase, the restrictions on workers’ rights will restrain any significant increase in real wages or improvement in working conditions.”

However, there are no immediate remedies for non-compliance with the labour and environmental provisions, unlike inrecent Canadian and US trade agreements with Peru and Colombia. Sanctions cannot be applied for violations of labour and environmental standards. The European Parliament noted that this means a “weakening” of the conditions under the previous arrangements between the parties.Parliamentarians should seek the establishment of a mechanism to enforce labour and environmental standards under the FTA.

For more information, contact Amy Horton on 020 7263 1016 or