G7: Trade Ministers commit to strengthen cooperation for respecting labour and human rights in business activities within and beyond G7
"G7 Trade Ministers’ Statement" 4 April 2023
We, the Trade Ministers of the Group of Seven (G7), reaffirmed our strong commitment to maintaining and strengthening the free, fair and rules-based multilateral trading system, which forms an integral part of the stable international order based on the rule of law, and serves as the foundation of global economic development, stability and growth.
Recent years have been marked by great geopolitical and economic turbulence, which has resulted in disruptions across global supply chains and cross-border movement of people as well as high inflation, hitting developing countries particularly hard. Although Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which we continue to condemn in the strongest possible terms, and the COVID-19 pandemic have been the immediate trigger of these crises, we also need to take into account the underlying developments in the international trading system, including prolonged non-market policies and practices. There have also been longer-term structural shifts such as the rapid growth of trade in service sectors and the acceleration of digital transformation and transition to net-zero emissions. In light of this situation, we will work towards further ensuring our global trade rulebook enables economic transformation, sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth, and respond to the needs of global citizens including our workers and communities.
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Our discussion today focused on these issues:
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-Recognizing the need to deepen discussions within and beyond the G7 on business and human rights, we intend to strengthen cooperation and collective efforts towards ensuring respect for human rights and international labour standards in business activities and further enhancing resilience, predictability and certainty for businesses and call upon others to join us in these efforts, including by aligning with international standards. For this, we will accelerate exchange of information on relevant regulation and policies through a network of experts
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Towards the Trade Ministers’ Meeting in October, we will pursue further cooperation on these issues and instruct our officials to accelerate their work for this purpose.