The Role of Free Trade Agreements in Promoting Sustainable Business

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Event Details

Trade agreements have long served as an incentive for trade and transactions between countries; through tariffs, quotas, and other agreed clauses, they encourage the parties involved to comply to a set of conditions in the interest of long-term cooperation. In the context of human rights and the environment, trade agreements now have a much larger role to play beyond commercial interests.

Recent years have seen a push towards the right direction of incorporating human rights and environmental concerns into the drafting of such treaties, but more effort needs to be made to ensure compliance on all levels of supply chain if we want to work towards a sustainable future. No longer can local businesses overlook the power of trade and investment agreements on the region, as new provisions on human rights, the environment, and sustainable development incorporated in FTAs globally will have impact on supply chain governance. Now more than ever, the Malaysian business sector needs to step up their game in responsible supply chain governance.

This online session will cover the various free trade and investment agreements in the Asia region that have impact on Malaysian businesses, highlighting the importance for local companies to re-examine their sustainability obligations, and serves as a follow-up to our previous "Human Rights and the Environment: Improving Supply Chain Compliance" webinar. Our esteemed speakers, from a variety of backgrounds and industries, will provide an overview on the new free trade and investment agreements in the Asia region (The CPTPP, RCEP, and EU FTAs with Asian countries) and their provisions on human rights, the environment, and sustainable development. Through their presentations and ensuing panel session, they will discuss the effects of FTAs on supply chains governance and highlight key challenges in complying with trade agreements, providing examples in the Malaysian context for best practices.

Agenda

September 24, 2021

Opening Keynote by the EU Ambassador to Malaysia

3
^10PM
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3
^25PM

Opening keynote delivered by His Excellency Mr. Michalis Rokas, Ambassador and Head of EU Delegation to Malaysia.

The EU’s modern free trade agreements (FTAs) contain provisions on trade and sustainable development (TSD), which include obligations of ratification and effective implementation of core ILO labour right conventions as well as environment protection. The EU is reviewing the implementation and enforcement of TSD chapters in EU FTAs. The European stakeholders, from the European Parliament to individual Member States, civil society organisations and the general public want more protection of labour and environmental standards.

For many countries that haven’t signed a FTA with the EU, including Malaysia, the EU is expanding its tool-box of instruments with own-initiative measures. On labour, the EU has recently issued guidelines on forced labour, pending the adoption of a mandatory due diligence framework. On environment, under the “green deal umbrella” a number of proposals have been made and more are coming soon including on carbon emission, renewable energy, energy efficiency, carbon leakage, as well as deforestation and carbon sinks.

Adopting sustainable business practices will prove beneficial for countries as well for the individual companies, as the cost of non-action will be much greater in the medium and long term.

- HE Michalis Rokas
  Ambassador at Delegation of the EU to Malaysia

Aligning Priorities and Approaches of Malaysian Businesses with FTAs

3
^40PM
-
3
^55PM

Trade liberalisation brings positive and negative impacts on the environment. The growth of economies and their expansion can, for example, increase pollution or degrade natural resources. At the same time, more incentives and opportunities are available to support the capacity of companies to improve their handling of the environment.

There are numerous reasons why we have seen an upward trend in environmental provisions in FTAs. They include ensuring that trade liberalisation does not damage or contributes positively to environmental protection. And further to enhance policy coherence between environmental and trade objectives. These agreed clauses become a key driver for governments and companies to implement effective environmental policies, regulations and institutional frameworks.

How do these environmental clauses affect Malaysian business operations? What are their obligations in complying with the required standards? What are the steps Malaysian companies can consider adopting to align their practices with the environmental goals in the FTAs?

- Edmund Bon
  Head of Chambers (Civil) at AmerBON Advocates

HE Michalis Rokas

Ambassador at Delegation of the EU to Malaysia

Michalis Rokas is the Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Malaysia. He has twenty-six years of experience in Foreign Affairs, having joined t...

Prof. Tan Sri Dr Zakri Abdul Hamid

Chairman of BCSD Malaysia Berhad

Prof. Tan Sri Dr Zakri is also Ambassador and Science Advisor to the Campaign for Nature, Former UN Official and a Senior Fellow of the Academy of Sci...

Dr Axel Marx

Deputy Director of Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies

Axel Marx is the Deputy Director at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, University of Leuven. His research interests include inter alia v...

Edmund Bon

Head of Chambers (Civil) at AmerBON Advocates

Edmund has been in legal practice for more than 23 years and is the co-founder of AmerBON, Advocates. He is a specialist counsel who regularly appears...

Cynthia Ann Peterson

Principal of Social Performance at Petronas

Cynthia Ann Peterson is a Principal, Social Performance in PETRONAS at the Group level. She has been in the energy industry for over a decade, with in...

Anisha Rajapakse

Director of Stakeholder Engagement at Fair Labour Alliance (FLA)

Anisha Rajapakse is a senior global expert with two decades of progressive experience working at the intersection of human rights, business and intern...

Dr Radu Mares

Acting Research Director, Associate Professor, Head of Economic Globalisation and Human Rights Thematic Area at Raoul Wallenburg Institute (RWI)

Radu Mares is a senior researcher at Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights. He has Doctor of Law (2006) and Associate Professor (Reader/Docent) (...

Michalis Rokas is the Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Malaysia. He has twenty-six years of experience in Foreign Affairs, having joined the European Commission External Relations Directorate General in 1994. Prior to his assignment to Malaysia, he was the Head of the Support to Delegations Division at the European External Action Service (EEAS). From 2016 to April 2017, he worked briefly as advisor to the Director General on Budget and Administration at the EEAS.

From January 2012 to September 2016, he served as Chargé d’ Affaires a.i. and Head of EU Delegation to New Zealand. Prior to the diplomatic posting in New Zealand, he served initially as Deputy, and then Head of the China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Mongolia Division at the EEAS. From 2002 to 2006, he was the Deputy Head of the European Commission’s Office in Hong Kong and Macau and the Head of the Trade and Economic Section.

Michalis Rokas holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the National University of Economics in Athens and a postgraduate degree in European Economics from the Free University of Brussels (ULB).

Opening Keynote by the EU Ambassador to Malaysia

Prof. Tan Sri Dr Zakri is also Ambassador and Science Advisor to the Campaign for Nature, Former UN Official and a Senior Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.

Tan Sri Zakri bin Abdul Hamid has had a distinguished career in science as a researcher, educator, administrator, diplomat and also as the former science adviser to the prime minister of Malaysia.

Awarded the federal honorific title “Tan Sri” by Malaysia’s head of state in 2014, he served until 2016 as the founding Chair at the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), as the Science Advisor to Malaysia’s Prime Minister, and was one of 26 members of the UN Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board.

Among other positions in recent years, Zakri has co-chaired the Secretariat of Malaysia’s Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC) and chaired the National Professors Council, the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation (BIOTECHCORP), the National Foresight Institute and the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT).

Earlier positions included Co-Chair of the Board at the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment from July 2000 to 2005, Director of the Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) of the United Nations University (UNU) from 2001 to 2008, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the National University of Malaysia (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) from 1992 to 2000.

Currently, Prof. Tan Sri Zakri is the Pro-Chancellor of both Multimedia University (MMU) and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), Malaysia. He currently Chairs Atri Advisory, a consultancy company providing advice to governments and the private sectors on sustainable development. In April 2020 Prof. Tan Sri Zakri was appointed ambassador and science adviser to the Global Campaign for Nature, a partnership between the Wyss Campaign for Nature and the National Geographic Society.

Welcome from BCSD Malaysia's Chairman

Axel Marx is the Deputy Director at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, University of Leuven. His research interests include inter alia voluntary sustainability standards (VSS), sustainable development, business and human rights and EU trade policy. He has acted as a consultant to several national and international governmental organizations including the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions, ILO, UNIDO, UNCTAD, United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards, OECD, IDEA and private organizations. He has published widely on EU trade policy in several academic journals and has co-edited a Research Handbook on Business and Human Rights which will appear next year.

The EU’s Value-Based Trade Policy and Human Rights: Achievements and Challenges
Panel Discussion

Edmund has been in legal practice for more than 23 years and is the co-founder of AmerBON, Advocates. He is a specialist counsel who regularly appears in the superior courts in Malaysia to represent individuals and companies on a wide range of commercial, civil and human rights cases. Appointed by the Malaysian Government in 2016, he was formerly the Representative of Malaysia to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). Then, one aspect of his work was to promote the adoption and operationalisation of the ‘Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework’ by States and corporations.

He has been advising clients specifically on business and human rights matters for more than ten years now. His clients include global and regional trade associations, non-profits, labour rights organisations, trade unions and multinational companies. Edmund was previously a six-time elected member of the Malaysian Bar Council and taught ‘Business and Human Rights’ to Masters students at the University of Malaya. He is currently working on a book publication on human rights compliance for SMEs in the environment and labour areas.