This document by ILRF and the Organic Consumers Association outlines some of our concerns with the Rainforest Alliance certification system.

Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist and already in 2009, 17 union leaders have been murdered. Hundreds of union leaders have been killed since the Uribe Administration came to power in 2002, yet the Obama Administration is still considering the passage of a Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Colombia. ILRF has outlined the reasons why the current Colombian government should not be rewarded with an FTA in the near future.

This year, the 111th Congress and the Obama Administration are preparing to move forward on pending trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea. Passage of these trade agreements have stalled due to a variety of concerns including labor rights practices, especially in Colombia and Panama. The current discussion is on charting a course of action for governments prior to a vote in the U.S. Congress on the trade agreements such as establishing reasonable and timely benchmarks that demonstrate improvements in a given area and authorizing an international body to monitor compliance.

This is testimony to the United States Trade Representative delivered by ILRF on April 24, 2009 explains recent developments regarding labor rights violations in the Philippines. The testimony is related to the Generalized System of Preferences petition ILRF filed against the Philippines in 2007 based on the widespread attacks on workers' right to organize.