IPEF Ministerial Releases Fair, Clean Economy Texts

The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, even without its trade pillar completed, is moving toward implementation with the establishment of an IPEF Council that will meet annually. The council will consider proposals to negotiate new agreements, enhance trade or economic relations, or amend IPEF; consider other countries' interest in acceding to IPEF; and adopt its rules.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with ministers from the 13 other IPEF partners in Thailand at the first ministerial meeting for the group.

The Supply Chain Agreement entered into force late last month, and Raimondo said the U.S. will "work closely with the IPEF partners to quickly begin operationalizing the agreement."

The group also published the text of the clean economy pillar and the fair economy pillar, which touched on labor rights issues, which have been controversial in the negotiation of the trade pillar (see 2311160047).

The Commerce Department said the fair economy agreement "aims to create a more level playing field for U.S. workers and businesses, as well as those of the IPEF partners, and to create a more transparent, predictable trade and investment environment across the Indo-Pacific."

Members pledge to combat bribery and corruption, and improve tax administration. The agreement text links bribery to union rights, and standards for migrant labor to prevention of forced labor.

The members pledge to "adopt or maintain measures toward significantly reducing or eliminating the charging of recruitment fees and related costs to migrant workers, and effectively enforce those measures.

To prevent corruption, such as bribery, that undermines labor rights, the members also pledged to take "appropriate measures" to stop employers, employers’ agents and employer associations from "interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in their decision to join or not join a labor organization or in the exercise of their freedom of association or collective bargaining rights." They also agreed to try to prevent employers from "promising or making a payment of money, or any other thing of value, to a workers’ organization, a labor organization, an official or representative of a workers’ organization or labor organization, or a worker, with the intent to corruptly influence the exercise of freedom of association or collective bargaining rights."

The 14 countries in IPEF say they recognize the right to collective bargaining in the workplace and the right to join a union; they want to eliminate all forms of forced labor, and abolish the worst forms of child labor, end employment discrimination, ensure a safe and healthy working environment, and have "acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages and hours of work."

Each pillar's agreement goes into effect once five countries have ratified it, which has happened with the Supply Chain Agreement. Commerce said the "IPEF partners are now working towards operationalizing the agreement," including appointing representatives to the agreement’s three bodies: the Supply Chain Council, the Crisis Response Network and the Labor Rights Advisory Board. The countries are also working on establishing chairs "and adopting terms of reference for each, as well as identifying their respective initial lists of critical sectors and key goods for cooperation under the agreement."

No country can announce it wishes to withdraw until three years after an agreement comes into force; the withdrawal would happen six months after such an announcement.