Brussels, 15/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - In Brussels, on 1 October, the representatives of the European social partners of the textiles and clothing sector, ETUL: TCL (European Trade Union Federation Textiles, Clothing and Leather, for the trade unions) and Euratex (European Apparel and Textile Organisation, for the employers), analysed the possible repercussions of the new WTO negotiating round for their industry.
In a press release, the social partners: 1) consider it vital for the future of their industry that all WTO members reduce their customs tariffs on textiles and clothing to a maximum of 15% (EU duties are already lower than this percentage) and that all forms of non-tariff barriers be prohibited (for example, practices relating to the marking and labelling, combined with local subsidies, or technical standards, or minimum import prices); 2) confirm that the EU must make no concessions to its trading partners in the clothing and textiles that are beyond the internationally agreed phase-out of quotas under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC); 3) undertake to respect basic working standards and to have these adopted throughout the world. This respect of working standards should be an integral part of the work of all international organisations, including the WTO; 4) stress that the protection of intellectual property rights and combating counterfeiting are essential for the sector's future and that the current TRIPS Agreements must be considered as a minimum basis for discussions.
The Secretary-General of ETUL: TCL, Patrick Itschert also stressed the need to "urgently tackle the social dimension of trade and sustainable development", accusing Commissioner Pascal Lamy of, seemingly, in his analysis of the situation, wanting to drop the social dimension", to send it back to the ILO alone.