Brookings to Hold Briefing on Trade Agreements and Labor Standards on May 19

5/14/2004

From: Brookings Office of Communications, 202-797-6105, or communications@brookings.edu, Web: http://www.brookings.edu

News Advisory:

WHAT: Brookings Briefing: Trade Agreements and Labor Standards

A Briefing on the New Report from the National Academy of Sciences

WHEN: Wednesday, May 19, 2:30 - 4 p.m.

WHERE: The Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.

Moderator:

-- LAEL BRAINARD, director, Poverty and the Global Economy, New Century Chair in International Economics, The Brookings Institution

Panelists:

-- THEA LEE, member, Committee on Monitoring International Labor Standards; assistant director for international economics, Public Policy Department, AFL-CIO

-- ROBERT E. LITAN, senior fellow, Economic Studies, Brookings; vice president for research and policy, The Kauffman Foundation

-- THEODORE H. MORAN, chair, Committee on Monitoring International Labor Standards; professor, Georgetown University

Although international labor standards are a valuable way to improve working conditions, they can be difficult to define and monitor in a uniform way. Problems include controversies over the obligations of individual countries and how to measure compliance.

At the request of the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Committee on Monitoring International Labor Standards conducted a two-year project that examined the accuracy and utility of existing sources of information that different countries use to comply with labor standards. Their report, released in March, makes recommendations on how to improve the monitoring process.

Brookings will convene an expert panel of policy analysts to discuss the issue of labor standards in trade agreements, debate the findings of the NAS report, and take questions from the audience. At the briefing, Brookings will release a new Policy Brief by Theodore Moran, who chaired the NAS committee, on the implications of the report.

RSVP: Please call the Brookings Office of Communications, 202-797-6105, or by e-mail at communications@brookings.edu or visit online at http://www.brook.edu/comm/events/20040519.htm.