Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-01-16-Speech-1-146"
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"en.20060116.17.1-146"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we were expecting much more from the Hong Kong meeting, even though it had already been announced that it was going to be a talking shop. Beyond the good intentions on the need to ensure a multilateral trading system, too many issues remained unresolved.
Among the many issues that deeply affect thousands of European companies and workers is the problem of the unfair competition waged by certain non-EU countries to Europe’s detriment. Such unfair competition, as in the case of China, consists of social and environmental dumping. In plain words, that means European markets are being flooded with very low-cost goods, which in fact cost a great deal in terms of human rights violations, worker exploitation and a lack of environmental protection. These are shoddily made goods, which literally plunder the intellectual property and technological skills of European companies with impunity.
Bringing down trade barriers is a good thing – nobody denies that – but it must not become merely an opportunity to place counterfeit goods or goods made with slave labour or child labour onto our markets.
In conclusion, Mr President, it is our duty to ensure that the WTO regulations include strict rules on safeguarding intellectual property and on protecting quality products by means of geographical indications of origin, and also clauses demanding protection for the environment and for workers’ rights."@en1
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