Without the possibility of sanctions, violations of labour standards in trade agreements are likely to continue. But what kind of enforcement tool could enhance compliance with labour standards? Clara Portela argues that applying targeted sanctions can deter violations of labour standards and improve compliance. The author has designed an enforcement mechanism that is flexible enough to target only those individuals, companies or sectors that are responsible for the breaches. This study is part of a series of papers on trade and labour standards that have been published under the FES in Asia project “Core Labour Standards Plus” (CLS+).