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- Sustainable development
The EU's Global Agreement with Mexico contains strong and legally binding commitments to promote sustainable development.
A new, ambitious agreement to foster sustainable development
- Binding commitments on labour rights, based on International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions.
- Commitment to effectively implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity and all international environmental agreements that the EU or Mexico have respectively ratified.
- Obligations to promote responsible business conduct in accordance with UN, ILO and OECD principles.
Involving civil society
- The new agreement will provide a transparent procedure to support civil society organisations in monitoring – and expressing their views on - its implementation.
Fostering Labour rights
- The EU and Mexico shall effectively implement the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization on child and forced labour, freedom of association and non-discrimination, as well as all other conventions that the EU or Mexico have respectively ratified.
Working together on sustainable development
In the modernised Agreement, the EU and Mexico pledge to cooperate on environmental issues, by:
- Raising companies' awareness on respecting the environment,
- Promoting fair trade schemes,
- Ensuring energy efficiency and using climate-friendly technologies,
- Promoting the reuse and repair of products.
Preserving fisheries, forests, and biodiversity
The agreement also includes commitments to:
- Promote the sustainable management of fisheries and forests and combat illegal fishing and logging activities,
- Preserve biodiversity,
- Fight illegal trade in endangered species.
All the labour and environmental commitments are legally binding between the EU and Mexico and enforceable via dispute settlement procedures by independent panels of experts.
A specific committee will be set up to regularly monitor that the agreed sustainability commitments are applied in practice on the ground, with the active participation of EU and Mexican civil society.
Moreover, the EU and Mexico will initiate a review process of the Trade and Sustainable Development aspects of the agreement, with a clear timeframe for delivery.