The International Trade Committee is responsible
for matters relating to the European Union's common commercial
policy and its external economic relations. As International Trade
is negotiated on a European, rather than national, level this Committee
provides a means of calling the Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson
to account for what he is doing on our behalf.
This committee is responsible for financial,
economic and trade relations with third countries and regional
organisations, as well as measures of technical harmonisation and
standardisation in fields covered by international law. That sounds
boring but it is actually very important. Cheap imports, globalisation
and where we get the things we buy on the High Street are all affected
by these rules.
Although it doesn't have powers of co-decision
INTA does have serious influence because the areas it deals with
are generally neglected by national Parliaments. The Department
for Trade and Industry (the DTI) is so massive that International
Trade policy is rarely subject to intense scrutiny as there are
so many other areas to discuss.
As big international organisations such as the
WTO grow in importance INTA has been closely involved in efforts
to incorporate parliamentarians into the decision making process.
The WTO, like the EU, is an organisation that suffers from justified
criticism for not being transparent or democratic. INTA, like the
Parliamentary Conference on the WTO of which I am the Co-Chair,
provides an opportunity for elected parliamentarians to influence
unelected experts and share the concerns of their constituents.
