Corporate Accountability and WTO Dispute Settlement

Global supply chains have worsened the problem of labour exploitation and human rights violations that are happening in parts of world, and the consumers are the farthest people from these places. As a response to this situation, countries have since used trade measures that are based on business and human rights standards such as mainly the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Rights (UNGPs). Nevertheless, the WTO system remains structurally state-centric and was not designed to control corporate behaviour. This work investigates the condition under which WTO judges may consider the UNGPs while assessing human rights-related trade measures. According to the paper, the UNGPs can in no case be considered as binding law in terms of WTO interpretation but rather may have a limited role as a contextual aid to shed some light on the objective, the organization, and the logical flow of such measures. This interpretive route accords the WTO with the latest regulations without it having to change its fundamental legal framework.