Number: RS22159
Title: DR-CAFTA Labor Rights Issues
Authors: Mary Jane Bolle, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division 
Abstract: The U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DRCAFTA, (P.L. 109-53, August 2, 2005) is the eighth free trade agreement to include labor protections. Implementation, scheduled for January 1, 2006, has been postponed because no DR-CAFTA country has completed internal legal and regulatory changes required, although several are close. Meanwhile, the countries' goods entering the United States will continue to receive preferential tariff treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Labor concerns focused on three main questions: (1) How strong are labor laws in DR-CAFTA countries? (2) Are those labor laws being adequately enforced? and (3) Does DR- CAFTA comply with the principal negotiating objectives for trade agreements outlined in the Trade Act of 2002?
Pages: 6
Date: January 26, 2006