Corporate Social Responsibility and Regional Trade and Investment Agreements

The United States-Peru and Canada-Peru trade agreements, which entered into force in 2009, include provisions promoting CSR principles. Although these are some of the first trade and investment agreements to mention CSR explicitly, it stands to reason that a number of future agreements may follow suit. The objective of this study is to explore the potential reflection of CSR principles and tools in bilateral and regional trade and investment agreements. In doing so, the study draws on some of the experiences of the US – and Canada-Peru agreements, as well as experiences stemming from the North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) environmental and labour side agreements.