WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, issued the following statement during today’s Full Committee mark-up of H.R. 5684, the United States - Oman Free Trade Agreement (FTA):

“My priority as Ranking Democrat on the Trade Subcommittee is to use the leadership of the United States to elevate workers’ rights and environmental standards in trade negotiations.  I think the United States can play a key role toward that end, particularly in bilateral agreements.  The difficulty we encounter is that we have been using ‘enforce your own laws’ as pertains to labor standards, as well as using different remedies in that area than we do in others falling under FTAs, and that has caused problems.  If we treated labor like any other provision in an agreement and referenced it directly, rather than just saying enforce your own rules, we wouldn’t be having these discussions today. 

“The difficulty goes even further because Democrats have been willing to support agreements with nations whose laws do not include International Labor Organization (ILO) standards when given commitments to change the laws through administrative action and legislative change, and in the interim, commit to continue applying their laws in an ILO consistent manner.

“There’s an easy way to correct any difficulty - reference international labor standards in the text of the agreement and use the same remedies we use for any other trade enforcement issue.  If this were the case, we wouldn’t be here arguing today about whether in fact Oman is meeting international standards.

“The difficulty I have with the Oman FTA is that we have not even reached the standards set under the Bahrain agreement.  In Bahrain we established the principle that existing labor laws would be applied in a manner consistent with ILO standards pending a prompt presentation of changes necessary to the parliament to make those changes in law.  That’s what we did in Bahrain, but we’re not doing it here.  Yes, Oman has made a commitment to change their laws by October, but when we look at the practices on the ground, we find there is not compliance with international standards. 

“Further, Oman has not committed to apply its labor laws in a manner consistent with ILO standards between now and the October date on which they intend to change their laws. 

“We have not met the standard we used for Bahrain and currently, we have no commitment that Oman will adhere to ILO standards.  For that reason, I cannot support the agreement.”

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