Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-10-20-Speech-3-755"
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"en.20101020.29.3-755"2
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"Madam President, honourable Members, tonight we are discussing a legislative proposal which the Commission tabled in 2005 concerning the indication of the country of origin of certain products imported from third countries – the ‘made in’ regulation.
In conclusion, I underscore the Commission’s determination to work closely with Parliament in order to have this proposal adopted and to have an efficient, accurate and cost-effective scheme for origin marking.
I would like to thank the rapporteur, Mrs Muscardini, for her dedication in support of our proposal and for her hard work. I wish her much success in carrying it further through the legislative process.
2005 was long before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and, therefore, long before this House received equal legislative powers regarding trade policy, but the lack of legislative powers did not prevent the European Parliament from twice expressing its support for this proposal. Despite our consistent efforts, there has been no progress towards adoption in Council.
Now that we are under the Lisbon Treaty, I am pleased the European Parliament can play its full role in relation to this proposal. I say this because the EU needs to adopt legislation on origin markings for certain goods from third countries. Today, the EU does not require origin marking: products can bear an origin mark provided that this does not mislead the consumer, in line with the EC Directive on unfair business practices of 2005.
The purpose of our proposal is to introduce a compulsory marking of origin on imports of certain products and to establish clear rules on how origin shall be established. The objectives of our proposal are clear – to enable consumers to know the origin of the goods and to ensure transparency according to a single standard by which origin is determined. Of course, information on origin does not cover everything the consumer may want to know about a specific product, but has the benefit of being useful and clear.
Secondly, being better informed, consumers will then be free to decide what to purchase according to their preferences. Incidentally, our proposal can also contribute to reducing the incidence of fraudulent or misleading origin marking. It is limited in scope, applying to goods such as leather, textiles, footwear and glassware, and it would not apply to sectors like electronics, ICT equipment, chemicals, machinery, cars, etc.
Among the product categories covered, there are products for which information about origin is particularly important: those that are destined for the final consumer. One of the amendments adopted by the Committee on International Trade clearly refers to this condition, which I find positive. Of course, we will need to ensure consistency between this principle – namely ‘goods for final consumers’ – and the actual products that will ultimately be covered by the regulation, as detailed in its annex.
I will not deny that origin marking has a cost for traders and exporters to the EU. The cost will notably depend on the production processes and technical marking rules. Therefore, it is important to keep these costs to a minimum. The Commission would be in charge of drafting the rules regarding the modalities of the marking, and will pay the utmost attention to minimising costs by relying on international practices, consulting with Member States and all the industries and traders involved.
Setting this proposal in a wider context, other large trading partners – like the US, Canada, Japan and China – have long had such schemes in place. We are therefore able to draw useful lessons from the experience of others."@en1
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