在乌拉圭回合，美国在法国、奥地利、比利时、葡萄牙、西班牙等国的支持下，以“社会条款”为名，主张把“劳工标准”问题写进马拉喀什部长宣言中。在马拉喀什部长级会议上，这一问题在发达国家和发展中国家引起了激烈的争论。美欧及其他一些发达国成员主张将劳工标准与贸易挂钩，通过贸易制裁来促进劳工标准的提高；而巴西、巴基斯坦、秘鲁等发展中国家坚决反对，认为任何将来自低工资水平国家的出口认定为不公平贸易的做法实际上剥夺了他们所拥有的比较优势。荷兰、瑞典、丹麦一些发达国家认为解决这一问题的时机尚不成熟。最后各方达成妥协，在马拉喀什部长宣言中不涉及任何有关劳工标准问题，将该问题留待世界贸易组织（WTO）讨论。[9]
（二）WTO有关劳工标准问题的谈判
1996年在新加坡召开的WTO首届部长级会议上，美国等发达国家再次提出将“核心劳工标准”作为大会的议题。会议上经过激烈的讨论，最终在部长级会议宣言中确立了该议题。
Core Labour Standards
We renew our commitment to the observance of internationally recognized core labour standards. The International Labour Organization （ILO） is the competent body to set and deal with these standards, and we affirm our support for its work in promoting them. We believe that economic growth and development fostered by increased trade and further trade liberalization contribute to the promotion of these standards. We reject the use of labour standards for protectionist purposes, and agree that the comparative advantage of countries, particularly low-wage developing countries, must in no way be put into question. In this regard, we note that the WTO and ILO Secretariats will continue their existing collaboration.[10]