19 May, 2004

Kerry signs-up to fair-trade - and so should we

Green Co-leader, Rod Donald is urging the Labour Government to take a leaf from the book of US presidential candidate, John Kerry and base trade agreements around strong labour and environmental values.

"Listen-up, Jim Sutton!" Rod Donald said today. "After years of doing trade deals based purely on the level of corporate profit or as a reward for sending troops to fight America's wars, a White House contender is now actually saying he won't make trade deals that don't protect workers and the environment.

"If New Zealand applied the same moral principles to our international agreements then we wouldn't now be talking to China and Thailand - both with appalling records of child labour abuse, exploitation of workers and environmental degradation - about free trade deals.

"John Kerry has pledged an urgent review of all America's trade deals if he's elected in November," said Mr Donald. "This Labour government could actually beat him to the moral high ground by immediately taking up our suggestion to include fair and transparent labour and environmental standards in all our trade agreements."

ENDS

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