ABSTRACT
International labor standards exist in two main forms: ( 1) Conventions and Recommendations set by the International Labor Organization (ILO), which have a compliance and verification mechanism-albeit fairly weak in terms of practical impact; and (2) "social clauses" incorporated into trade agreements, in which access to trade concessions or participation in trade agreements, is linked to adherence to minimum conditions of employment, usually but not exclusively those set by the ILO Conventions and Recommendations. Our discussion oflabor standards will therefore be incomplete without first setting out the sources of international labor standards, the process by which they are generated and enforced, and the role of the organization that for decades has been formulating them, the ILO.
