Do Labour Standards have a Role in International Trade?: Private Standards, Preferential Trade Agreements or the WTO

It is now common for producers (economic protectionism), consumers and social advocates (humanitarian motives) to urge for the inclusion of labour standards in international trade agreements. In spite of this, there has been little empirical work to determine whether low labour standards lead to trade distortions. This paper provides some empirical evidence pertaining to this question. Consumer groups, social advocates and traditional vested interests such as labour unions have attempted to have labour standards included in WTO disciplines. In the absence of success at the WTO, the relationship between labour standards and international trade has, however, been evolving in the areas of private standards and preferential trade agreements. Given the role that preferential trade agreements sometimes take in establishing future directions in multilateral trade agreements and the increasing dissatisfaction with the WTO’s treatment of consumer issues in general, in the future labour standards may well work their way into multilateral trade agreements. The empirical results show that low labour standards lead to trade distortions. These effects appear to be small. Further research in this area is suggested.consumers, food processing, labour standards, preferential trade agreements, trade distortion, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, International Development, International Relations/Trade,

Labour Standards as a Justification for Trade Barriers: Consumer Concerns, Protectionism and the Evidence

In this article, justifications by producers (economic protectionism), consumers and social advocates (humanitarian motives) for including labour standards in international trade agreements are discussed. To date, little work has been undertaken to determine empirically whether low labour standards lead to trade distortions. This article provides some empirical evidence pertaining to this question. Consumer groups, social advocates and traditional vested interests such as labour unions have attempted to have labour standards included in WTO disciplines. In the absence of success at the WTO, the relationship between labour standards and international trade has, however, been evolving in the areas of private standards and preferential trade agreements. Given the leading role that preferential trade agreements sometimes take in establishing future directions in multilateral trade agreements and the increasing dissatisfaction with the WTO’s treatment of consumer issues in general, in the future labour standards may well work their way into multilateral trade agreements. The empirical results show that low labour standards could potentially lead to trade distortions, but more empirical work is required before a legitimate case might be made to have labour standards considered in multilateral trade negotiations.consumers, food processing, labour standards, preferential trade agreements, trade distortion, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade, Labor and Human Capital,

Preparation and Characterization of Cerium (III) Doped Captopril Nanoparticles and Study of their Photoluminescence Properties

Indexación: Web of Science. DOAJ.In this research Ce3+ doped Captopril nanoparticles (Ce3+ doped CAP-NP) were prepared by a cold welding process and have been studied. Captopril may be applied in the treatment of hypertension and some types of congestive heart failure and for preventing kidney failure due to high blood pressure and diabetes. CAP-NP was synthesized by a cold welding process. The cerium nitrate was added at a ratio of 10% and the optical properties have been studied by photoluminescence (PL). The synthesized compounds were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The size of CAP-NP was calculated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The size of CAP-NP was in the range of 50 nm. Morphology of surface of synthesized nanoparticles was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Finally the luminescence properties of undoped and doped CAP-NP were compared. PL spectra from undoped CAP-NP show a strong pack in the range of 546 nm after doped cerium ion into the captopril appeared two bands at 680 and 357 nm, which is ascribed to the well-known 5d–4f emission band of the cerium.http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/chem.2016.14.issue-1/chem-2016-0008/chem-2016-0008.xm

Modeling and Multi-objective Optimization of a Packed Bed Reactor for Sulfur Dioxide Removal by Magnesium Oxide Using Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II

Nowadays, protecting the environment is of utmost importance worldwide, and sulfur dioxide is one of the main pollutants in the atmosphere. This work proposes a new method for simultaneous SO2 removal by MgO, and production of magnesium sulfate in a packed bed reactor for which breakthrough curves have been obtained. Furthermore, the effect of important operating parameters, including temperature, SO2 concentration, and gaseous flow rate was investigated. Experiments showed that increasing the temperature improved the breakthrough lifetime, but the increase in concentration and flow rate reduced the lifetime. The experimental results were predicted successfully by applying the Random Pore Model (RPM). Finally, the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA II) that is a technique for multi-objective optimization, was employed to determine the best operating parameters for SO2 removal by magnesium oxide in the packed bed reactor. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

The Long Journey for Afghan Teacher Training Colleges: Accreditation and Quality Assurance

The authors, having spent five years working in Afghanistan provide a first-hand description of the processes that evolved over that time in the development of an accreditation and quality assurance policy and program for Teacher Training Colleges. The paper provides a brief historical sketch of the educational system in Afghanistan and the steps taken by the Technical Advisors in helping the Ministry of Education formalize a policy for accreditation and quality assurance. The second part of the paper focuses on the structure and content of the accreditation process that was successfully piloted on three Teacher Training Colleges. The Ministry of Education is now in the process of implementing the program across the country. It reveals that the accreditation process can be adapted and incorporated into the government of low income countries