Vol. 459 No. 5
19 Kathleen Lynch asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the recommendations, if any, he has received regarding import controls or other measures to combat the sale in Ireland of goods produced using child labour in developing countries further to his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 71 of 17 October 1995; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18292/95]
Any consideration of measures to restrict trade would have to be undertaken initially in the European Union and would have to have regard to our obligations as a Contracting Party to the GATT/WTO.
There have been efforts to include the issue of labour standards in the agenda of the World Trade Organisation which has recently been established. These efforts have given rise to fears that labour standards could be used as a pretext for trade protectionism. Ireland favours the examination of this issue in a transparent and multilateral way which is not protectionist.
