[24 November] This report reviews the conclusions of a recent international expert seminar on human rights impact assessments for trade and investment agreements convened under the auspices of the UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Food.

The seminar, hosted by the South Centre in Geneva in June 2010, was jointly organized by the Berne Declaration, the Canadian Council for International Co-operation, Misereor and others.

The report sets out key issues and methodologies for conducting human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) for trade and investment agreements. There have been widespread calls for States to undertake HRIAs ahead of concluding trade agreements, but limited international consensus on how to do so. The meeting underscored the urgency of mobilizing governments, CSOs and multilateral institutions to take concrete steps towards developing a human-rights-based approach to trade and investment agreements, and highlighted the possibilities for employing HRIAs as one means to this end.

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Human Rights Impact Assessments for Trade and Investment Agreements, Report of the Expert Seminar held on 23-24 June 2010, Geneva.