Services Programme • Volume 11 • Number 3 • May 2007
Facilitating Temporary Labour Mobility
Labour mobility has the potential to be a key driver of sustainable economic growth and development for many developing countries. Revenues generated by the remittances of nearly 200 million migrant workers amounted to approximately US$167 billion in 2005, over twice the value of official development assistance. For labour-receiving countries, there is also substantial evidence that in view of actual and expected labour shortages, labour migration can confer important economic and social benefits. At the same time, ever-expanding international trade in goods and services feeds the need for labour mobility, as production seeks the most efficient factor sources. However, while barriers to trade in goods and services have decreased, significant obstacles remain for the temporary cross-border movement of labour.
As a contribution to fostering better understanding among the various stakeholders from both sending and receiving countries, ICTSD and the World Trade Institute’s NCCR-Trade project held a dialogue on Trade and Labour Migration: Developing Good Practices to Facilitate Labour Mobility from 20 to 22 April in Jongny, Switzerland.
Good Practices of Sending Countries to Facilitate Return Migration
Strategies to facilitate circular migration of temporary labour and to provide ‘comfort’ to receiving countries differ significantly among sending countries. The Philippine government has a coherent set of regulations that facilitate the deployment of temporary labour, protect migrant workers while abroad and encourage their return and reintegration. In contrast, while the government of India provides information to potential temporary labour migrants, it relies on private initiative to facilitate the movement of labour abroad.
Facilitating Temporary Labour Migration in Receiving Countries
In receiving countries, labour market tests ensure that lower-skilled migrant workers do not take away jobs from domestic employees. Wage parity requirements imposed for the protection of workers are seen by some as a disincentive for local employers to hire temporary migrant workers. To ensure the temporary character of labour migration, some countries withhold a proportion of migrant workers’ remittances until they return home. Other countries prevent access to permanent status by allowing instead multiple renewals of temporary work permits, without granting the migrant worker any possibility to apply for permanent status.
Learning from Bilateral Agreements
While many bilateral agreements tend to allow labour-receiving countries to simply incorporate provisions that already exist under their unilateral admission programmes, they may nonetheless offer useful lessons on how temporary labour migration could be facilitated in a broader context. Among the measures that may be emulated are those promoting the circulation of migrant workers, training programmes, wage parity, compulsory saving programmes, mechanisms for reduced remittance costs and, in some cases, the provision of social rights.
An additional advantage of bilateral agreements is their ability to adjust to fluctuating labour market needs. For example, Canada’s bilateral agreements with Central American and Caribbean countries offer additional flexibility in terms of volume and specific types of labour skills.
Given the present inability of the multilateral trade framework to advance temporary labour migration, some experts say bilateral agreements may provide a more viable strategy for countries keen to reap the benefits from temporary labour migration. Moreover, labour mobility covered under the General Agreement on Trade in Services’ so-called mode 4 accounts only for a portion of total labour migration, and yet, is subject to very few liberalisation commitments. In addition, a number of issues critical to facilitating labour mobility may be extremely difficult to address in a multilateral trade negotiations context. These include national visa regimes, broader immigration policy, licensing and qualification requirements and procedures administered at the sub-national level and labour standards, among others.
For more information, visit: http://www.ictsd.org/dlogue/2007-04-20/2007-04-20-desc.htm