&Nbsp Under The Blue Trade Barrier; Where Should China'S Export Enterprises Go?

The blue trade barrier has a lot of influence on Chinese export enterprises. Under the barriers, where should China's export enterprises go? Here is the detailed analysis of the connotation, influence and Countermeasures of the blue trade barriers.

I. the connotation of blue trade barriers

The core of the blue trade barrier is the SA8000 standard, which is formulated and promoted by the Accreditation Board of the economic rights and interests Promotion Committee. It is used for the general management system of social responsibility of industrial and commercial enterprises to protect the basic rights and interests of workers.

The purpose of SA8000 is to improve workers' working conditions and environment. It has nominal legitimacy. However, due to the disparity of economic development level between developed countries and developing countries, they have different national conditions. If they are treated equally, they will lead to unfair treatment in practice.

Two, the impact of blue trade barriers on China's export enterprises

The blue trade barriers are mainly targeted at labor-intensive export enterprises in developing countries.

Most of the products produced and exported by China are labor-intensive products such as clothing, textiles, shoes and so on, which will inevitably cause many effects.

If we manage the enterprises according to the certification standard of the blue trade barrier core SA8000, the price advantage of some export enterprises will no longer exist, but it is undeniable that the blue trade barriers have a positive effect on the long-term development of export enterprises in developing countries.

(1) positive impact

1., it is conducive to improving the international image of Chinese export enterprises.

Some multinational corporations and consumers in developed countries hold this idea. SA8000 certified products have stricter social responsibility moral standards, while developing countries without SA8000 products mean that enterprises lack social moral responsibility.

In recent years, the survey results of European and American countries show that 70% of consumers believe that corporate commitment to social responsibility is an important factor to consider when they buy products or services. 50% of consumers say they will refuse to buy products that are not responsible for social responsibility.

Once an enterprise obtains SA8000 certification, it will be recognized by consumers and will actively buy products produced by the company.

In the process of expanding export scale in China's export enterprises, because of the outdated management concepts and serious imbalance between supply and demand in labor market, enterprises often use disguised labor force to lower workers' wages, lengthen working hours of workers, work overtime in disguised form, pay wages in arrears, and workers' working conditions are bad.

SA8000 certification is an effective way for Chinese exporters to create a good international image and enhance their reputation and popularity.

After obtaining the certification, foreign consumers will get a clearer picture of CSR.

Through certification, the international image of enterprises will be greatly enhanced.

2., it is conducive to improving the labor relations of Chinese export enterprises.

In recent years, there have been endless reports of workers' Arrears of wages, workers' injuries and no reasonable compensation.

The core SA8000 standards of blue trade barriers have set minimum requirements for child labor, forced labor, freedom of organization unions and collective bargaining rights, discrimination, disciplinary measures, working hours, wages, health and safety, management systems, etc., so as to enable Chinese export enterprises to establish a "people-oriented" management system so as to ensure their rights such as wages, benefits and benefits are effectively protected.

To achieve higher market competitiveness, the harmony of labor relations and the perfection of human resources management are essential for enterprises.

The SA8000 standard is actually the correct handling of the relationship between enterprises and employees.

3., it is conducive to the sustainable development of China's export enterprises.

In the long run, the implementation of social responsibility standards has a positive significance for the sustainable development of Chinese export enterprises.

The modern enterprise system requires scientific and effective human resources management. Only by focusing on the interests of employees can enterprises create harmonious labor relations between employees and employees, increase employees' sense of belonging, stimulate their enthusiasm and creativity, and greatly improve their work efficiency.

At the same time, products certified by SA8000 standards are more easily recognized by consumers in developed countries, so that enterprises can gain economic benefits while paying attention to social benefits.

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4. is conducive to the pformation of competitive advantage.

The development of Chinese export enterprises is inseparable from the low price advantage of their products in the international market.

For a long time, the pattern of developing foreign trade by Chinese export enterprises using China's abundant and low-cost labor resources will change accordingly.

The certification of SA8000 standard can force enterprises to carry out process reengineering and raise the level of cost management, not just the control of labor cost.

In addition, enterprises must pay attention to social benefits and social responsibilities, and they will also be favored by consumers.

In addition, with the development of social economy, labor costs will continue to rise. China's export enterprises can take advantage of SA8000's opportunity to promote the pformation of competitive advantage from price advantage to quality and technology advantage.

(two) negative effects

1. export costs increase and international market competitiveness decreases.

The most direct impact of the implementation of the SA8000 standard on China's export enterprises is to increase the export cost, including two parts of the cost: first, the certification cost, that is, the certification fee of the SA8000 standard system.

In general, SA8000 standard certification takes 1 years, the certificate is valid for 3 years, every six months to review once, a 2000 person factory need to pay the authentication fee is 90 thousand yuan.

The cost is higher and the average cost is about 200 thousand yuan.

A Swiss owned enterprise in Guangdong has passed SA8000 certification. It spent 100 thousand yuan for the first time, 50 thousand yuan for authentication fee and 50 thousand yuan for other consulting fees.

The two is the improvement of the welfare level of the labor force and the improvement of the working environment.

If enterprises implement SA8000 standards, the average labor cost of some labor-intensive enterprises will increase by 50% to 100%.

It can be seen that the increase of the cost of China's export enterprises, especially the labor-intensive enterprises, will inevitably increase the price of the international market of these products. In terms of quality and technology content, if China's products do not have outstanding advantages, their competitiveness in the international market will obviously decrease.

2., faced with new trade barriers, the number of orders declined.

As a large trading country in developing countries, China has become an important goal of the social responsibility movement in developed countries.

Most of the products produced and exported in China belong to labor-intensive products, and most of them are small and medium-sized enterprises, so their competitive advantages are mainly based on low labor cost and lack of technical content.

In 1990s, after a series of serious violations of labor rights in China's export enterprises, the International Union of labor warned that if we did not improve the labour environment, we would have to jointly develop the developed countries and impose restrictions on China's exports of leather, toys and textiles.

Then, the traditional Chinese light industrial products export trade organization, including the US, Italy and France, discussed the adoption of an agreement requiring all Chinese textiles, toys, footwear and other export enterprises to pass the SA8000 standard in advance, otherwise they would boycott imports.

As a result, the number of orders that Chinese exporters do not have SA8000 certification will be significantly affected by the barriers to social responsibility.

3., the attractiveness of foreign investment has declined.

One of the reasons why China has been attracting foreign investment has been China's abundant labor resources and low labor costs. Therefore, the areas of foreign investment are mostly concentrated on labor-intensive industries, making China gradually become the center of the world's manufacturing industry.

Taking the textile industry as an example, the wage level of Chinese textile workers is about 1/2 of Thailand. The implementation of the 1/40 standard of the United States and the 1/20.SA8000 standard of the United States will force some enterprises to improve their production conditions and working environment and improve their wages and benefits.

While improving labor standards, the original cost advantage will be lost.

As a result, the attractiveness of China's labor-intensive industries to foreign investment will decline, and will affect China's scale of attracting foreign investment, China's economic development and employment, and increase domestic employment pressure.

Three, countermeasures for Chinese export enterprises to cope with the blue trade barriers

1., enhance corporate social responsibility awareness and actively deal with blue trade barriers.

First of all, China's export enterprises should take a correct view of corporate social responsibility standards, no matter how specific they are.

At present, the current key areas of all kinds of standards (next sixty-ninth pages) (up to sixty-seventh pages) include the retail industry, the procurement of multinational manufacturing enterprises, and the international supply of labor-intensive industries, which are the activities of most Chinese export enterprises.

Secondly, China's export enterprises should treat SA8000 standards calmly.

The corresponding social responsibilities of enterprises are the needs of their own development as well as the needs of social progress.

Although it has a negative impact on some enterprises in the short term, it is necessary to have certain technical requirements and environmental protection requirements for products. As long as such standards are not discriminatory, communication and communication between trade partners can be strengthened and, if possible, satisfied.

Finally, Chinese enterprises should not blindly pursue SA8000 certification.

As mentioned before, certification fees are expensive. Enterprises should weigh their timing and timely certification according to their own circumstances.

If the enterprise is fledgling, it can suspend certification, but improve internal labor standards, change development ideas, and prepare for future certification.

To sum up, in the long run, Chinese enterprises should attach importance to SA8000 certification, actively integrate with international practice and implement standardization strategy. This is the effective way to reduce international trade friction, break through the blue trade barrier and expand product export.

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2. strictly abide by relevant laws and regulations and improve labor conditions.

The laws and regulations related to labor standards in China are generally consistent with the SA8000 standards.

Because many enterprises in China, especially labor-intensive enterprises, have serious defects in implementing the law, the image of Chinese enterprises is damaged.

China's export enterprises should, as soon as possible, in accordance with the new labor law, labor contract law, trade union law, safety production law, the law on protection of women and children's rights and interests, the enterprise law and other relevant laws and regulations, as well as labor standards in related industries, conscientiously raise the labor standards and improve the working environment of workers so as to improve the international image and reputation of Chinese enterprises.

3., promote technological innovation and develop knowledge intensive enterprises.

SA8000 mainly affects labor intensive enterprises. In order to break through the constraints of SA8000 standards, enterprises must change their development ideas and pform from relying solely on lower labor costs to improving the technological content and quality of products.

At present, China is in the low end of the international industrial chain of labor. Due to the low technological content of products, the homogenization of products is serious, and the means of competition are single.

As a result, China's export enterprises must start from the following three aspects: first, increase the intensity of independent innovation, increase investment in scientific research, and vigorously develop new and high technology with independent intellectual property rights under the support of the government, and promote the pformation of science and technology into productive forces.

Two, enterprises should speed up the pformation of existing technologies and improve the technological content of products.

Three, through international technology trade, we can achieve a virtuous cycle of "Introduction digestion absorption innovation", and promote technological progress.

In short, Chinese export enterprises must speed up the pformation from labor-intensive enterprises to knowledge intensive enterprises, and have their own independent technology, intellectual property rights, brands and trademarks, so that they can remain invincible in international competition.

4., governments, trade associations and export enterprises are working together to establish an early-warning mechanism for blue trade barriers.

The government and trade associations should strengthen the research on the blue trade barriers and establish corresponding information centers and databases so as to provide useful information in time for export enterprises.

At the same time, the government can also set up corresponding websites to provide consulting work for enterprises so as to prevent and respond positively.