The cross-border social dialogue dimension of this Free Trade Agreement (FTA), in force since 1 January 2021, relates to the FTA’s Chapter 13 on “Trade and Sustainable Development”, which provides for the establishment of a “Joint Forum with civil society organisations” mandated “to conduct a dialogue on sustainable development aspects of this Agreement.”
The Joint Forum features participation of representatives of civil society organizations, including national employers’ and workers’ organizations’ members of the Domestic Advisory Groups (DAG) established in the two countries. DAGs are composed of “independent representative organisations of civil society in a balanced representation of economic, social, and environmental stakeholders, including, among others, employers' and workers' organisations, non-governmental organisations, business groups, as well as other relevant stakeholders”, and are mandated at national level to advise on the implementation of the Chapter 13.
On the occasion of the Joint Forum, the Parties shall present an update on the implementation of the Chapter. The same Chapter commits Parties to, among other things, “affirm their commitment to pursue sustainable development”, “to effectively implement in their law and in practice the fundamental, the priority and other ILO conventions ratified by the United Kingdom and the Republic of Moldova respectively”, and to “consider the ratification of the remaining priority and other conventions that are classified as up-to-date by the ILO.”