Vol. 490 No. 7
89 Mr. Stanton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the measures, if any, the Government has in place to ascertain whether or not manufactured goods imported are not produced in sweat shops or by child labour in other countries; her views in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11345/98]
Ireland fully supports international efforts, especially through the International Labour Organisation (ILO), to eliminate slave and child labour practices and to encourage compliance with these and other core labour standards. Currently we are supporting ILO efforts to have a declaration on core labour standards adopted which specifically targets the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour and the effective abolition of child labour.
At its annual conference next month, which I will attend, the ILO will also initiate discussions on a draft convention and draft recommendation focusing exclusively on the most intolerable forms of child labour. Ireland will be represented at this conference by a tripartite delegation comprised by Government, employer and trade union delegates.
Ireland also fully supports EU efforts to encourage compliance with core labour standards through the new EU generalised system of preferences (GSP) scheme. Under the new scheme, preferential access to the EU market can be denied to countries which fail to ensure compliance with core labour standards. This provision has already been applied against imports from Myanmar, formerly Burma, due to the use of forced labour in that country. The GSP scheme also provides for the introduction of a new special incentive arrangement providing further duty concessions to reward those countries which can demonstrate compliance with ILO principles on the minimum age for admission to employment. The special incentive arrangement is expected to enter into force shortly.
I believe that the way forward towards stamping out slave and child labour practices is through multilateral action on these lines.
