Press Room > Oxfam Ireland Press Release
January 12th 2004
Oxfam demands trade relief for tsunami affected countries
Brussels, Belgium : Reacting to yesterday's announcement by the European Commission that it is "seeking trade measures" to relieve tsunami victims, International agency Oxfam said that EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson should act immediately by removing all tariffs on textiles and clothing imports to the EU from affected countries.
In Sri Lanka , clothing accounts for half of all export earnings and the industry employs 350,000 workers, 85% of whom are women. Oxfam estimates that last year, on clothing alone, the EU levied 57 million euros in taxes on Sri Lankan products and 136 million euros on Indonesian products. This is more than a third of the amount of aid that the European Commission has pledged to the tsunami disaster.
Offering affected countries improved market access for their clothing and footwear exports would sustain tens of thousands of jobs and generate desperately needed foreign exchange.
"The EU has been generous with its aid to the tsunami victims but by charging these import taxes they are giving with one hand and taking with the other," warned Jo Leadbeater, Head of Oxfam's EU Advocacy Office. "The EU could do as much again to help affected countries by changing its trade rules and offering debt relief as they have already with pledges of direct aid money."
Oxfam is launching a major campaign action today asking its supporters to email Commissioner Mandelson and ask him to help Indonesia , Sri Lanka and the Maldives to rebuild their shattered communities by adjusting European trade rules now.
"The EU preaches the benefits of trade, but if there is ever a time when action must match words, this is it. With the support of the Member States, the EU Trade Commissioner could end these crippling trade taxes and allow these countries to maintain tens of thousands of jobs and earn foreign exchange earnings they desperately need to rebuild their countries," said Leadbeater.
For more information, contact : Paul Dunphy Oxfam Ireland's Press Officer on 01 6040706 Louis Bélanger , Media Officer ; Oxfam International EU Office +32 2 502 03 91 or + 32 4 73 562 260
Notes to Editor
* Indonesia exported 1.8 billion euros of textiles and clothing products to the EU in 2003. Oxfam estimates that in 2003, Indonesia paid 136 million euros in duties on textiles and clothing to the EU.
* Rules of Origin: As one of the poorest countries, the Maldives should be entitled to supply clothes for the European market without paying import taxes, but the EU has rigged the rules, with the result that high duty has to be paid on three-quarters of sales.
* The EU insists that both the fabric and the clothing must be made in the Maldives in order for goods to qualify - a condition that the Maldives, along with other poor exporting countries such as Bangladesh and Cambodia, cannot meet MFA phase out: Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia are facing the threat of big job losses owing to major restructuring now underway in the global textile and clothing industry, so the disaster could not have come at a worse time for their economies. The Multi-Fibre Arrangement used to give these countries better quota access to the EU markets than that granted to India and China who are more competitive. The MFA ended on 1st January 2005 . The means that these countries are going to lose many jobs as the more efficient producers expand their exports .
Further information from Oxfam International website here