Taiwan – Trade

III. The state duty to protect human rights

B. Actions taken

  • Promotion of international exchange and cooperation (page 7)

‘Taiwan has inserted “CSR clauses,” “investment/environmental/labor clauses,” and “general exceptions” into previously signed trade and investment agreements, so our government has taken concrete actions to safeguard human rights.’

This information is also covered under Appendix 4: Overview of the implementation of the state duty to protect and the access to remedy, The state duty to protect, UNGP9, Actions taken (page 49).

C. Actions planned

  • Actively incorporate human rights clauses into economic and trade agreements (page 10)

‘In the future, during the process of discussing and signing bilateral or multilateral economic and trade agreements, Taiwan’s government agencies in charge of economic and trade negotiations will also continue seeking to include human rights clauses to be observed by all signatories.’

This information is also covered under Appendix 4: Overview of the implementation of the state duty to protect and the access to remedy, The state duty to protect, UNGP9, Actions planned (page 50).

 

Appendix 1: Concrete actions taken by Taiwan to fulfill the state obligation to protect

  • Promotion of international consensus and cooperation (pages 28-29)

‘In line with this, Taiwan has included CSR, environmental, and worker rights clauses, as well as “general exceptions,” in many of its trade and investment agreements, such as the following:

A CSR clause is included as Article 12 of the bilateral investment agreement (BIA) between the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India and the India-Taipei Association.

Inclusion of “investment/environment/labor” clauses: Host states shall not attract investment by relaxing health, safety, or environmental protections, or by lowering labor standards. At present, Taiwan has several free trade agreements (FTAs) with such clauses, including Article 10.15 of the Taiwan-Guatemala FTA, Article 10.11 of the Taiwan-Nicaragua FTA, Article 10.16 of the Taiwan-El Salvador-Honduras FTA, Article 24 of the Taiwan -Japan BIA, and Article 12.16 of the Taiwan-New Zealand FTA.

“General exception” clauses: These clauses focus on the following twin 29 themes: 1) investment agreement specifications shall not be interpreted as prohibiting host states from adopting necessary measures based on public interests, such as protecting human health, and 2) such measures should not cause arbitrary or unreasonable discrimination against investors. Such “general exception” clauses are included in Article 16 of the Taiwan-St. Vincent BIA, Article 16 of the Taiwan-Philippines BIA, and Article 31 of the Taiwan-India BIA.’