Trade Agreements, Business and Human Rights: The case of export processing zones

Since at least the 1980s, there has been a rapid expansion in the number and size of Export Processing Zones (EPZs) across many parts of the developing world. This proliferation has been of some concern to many within the human rights movement, primarily because of some evidence of low and deteriorating labor standards within these zones. Successive reports on the outcomes of EPZs published by international organizations such as the ILO, the OECD and the World Bank, show a mixed overall picture of the impact of EPZs on wages, working conditions, rights of association and gender discrimination in the workplace – but also provide evidence of some egregious examples of serious violations of these and other fundamental labor rights in some circumstances. These reports provide a similarly mixed picture of the economic outcomes of EPZ experiments, in terms of export development, employment, dynamic spillover effects, and growth.

The human rights impacts of EPZs include more than labor issues. Where EPZ projects attract large numbers of migrant workers, the availability of essential facilities – housing, water, electricity, medical and educational services – can fail to keep pace with demand. The movement of migrant workers can also lead to the rapid introduction and spread of communicable diseases, with consequent impacts on the right to health. The sheer scale of some EPZ projects can cause significant disruption to local communities during the initial construction phase. The rights to life and health of individuals living and working in the vicinity of EPZ projects may also be affected by any environmental damage caused by economic activity within the EPZ. There is also some anecdotal evidence of emerging human rights issues relating to the trend towards the private management and operation of EPZs.