A Look into Voluntary Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) Certifications on Labor Conditions in International Trade Law: Nike, A Case Study
![handle is hein.journals/scjilb18 and id is 139 raw text is: SOUTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW & BUSINESS
A LOOK INTO VOLUNTARY NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION (NGO)
CERTIFICATIONS ON LABOR CONDITIONS IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW:
NIKE, A CASE STUDY
Elvira Oviedo
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this paper is to address the increasing voluntary use of non-governmental
organization (NGO) certification programs by corporations to uphold some form of structural
labour standards in their overseas factories. The increasing use of voluntary NGO labour-based
certification programs is a direct result of the gaping holes and lack of enforcement left by the
World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the laws and
regulations of the lands that these unethical labour practices are taking place in. This paper deep
dives into a case study of Nike, Inc. who, due to mass media attention on the unethical labour
practices occurring in their overseas manufacturing factories, were forced to reevaluate and
incorporate into their business model a code of standards primarily centered on remedying the
labour practices that were costing them millions of dollars.
Nike exemplifies the new trend in the corporate world of using NGO labour-based
certifications while also highlighting the shortcomings that such certification programs struggle
with such as lack uniformity, lack of enforcement, and possible biased participation. A quick
overview of alternatives to NGOs shows that while such alternatives can offer some solution, these
alternatives also have their own pitfalls. The Alien Tort Claims Act is currently pending in the
United States Supreme Court awaiting a decision that could either move bounds for labour activists
or heighten the political and legal barriers labour activists often find themselves in front of.
Additionally, state laws are few and far in between. They offer no real enforcement and the
environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors being implemented by some corporations are
not yet widespread enough to have any large effect. The lingering influence of past Secretary-
Generals of the United Nations who emphasized human labour practices and of the Human Rights
Council and the Global Compact Initiative are just that-lingering, and have opened a gateway for
participation of initiatives as proof of ethical labour practices when the reality is to the contrary.
While international agreements and organizations, national laws, and NGO labour-based
certifications all have weaknesses that vary in degree, the conclusion, with the support of Nike as
a case study, is that NGO labour-based certification programs do have merit and have the potential
to greatly change the corporate world's operations into one that prioritizes ethical labour practices.
I. THE WTO AND ILO'S STANCES ON LABOUR STANDARDS
It is important to note that the WTO states almost no rules or regulations for labor
conditions regarding international trade and production.1 The only exception to the WTO's
silence regarding labor conditions is in Article XX (General Exceptions) of the General
1 See General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Oct. 30, 1947, 61 State. A-11, 55 U.N.T.S. 197 [hereinafter GATT].
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