Today in Paris, Undersecretary Di Stefano attended the second day of the Ministerial meeting of the Council of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and spoke at the thematic sessions on foreign trade and digitalisation.
“It is increasingly clear” he said “that there is now a need for international economic and commercial relations to be anchored to criteria of equity and social sustainability. For that reason we are in favour of introducing regulations on corporate social responsibility in relation to supply chains, and we look with interest to the proposals that the European Commission intends to formulate on possible bans on placing goods on the market, in the EU, whose supply chains present violations in relation to forced labour.”
“It is essential” he continued “to align the WTO rules on public subsidies to current global dynamics, and to support the relaunch of trade multilateralism with the WTO at the centre”.
On the subject of digital transition, the Undersecretary reiterated the need for democratic countries to coordinate so that on the one hand, leadership on new technologies is maintained, and on the other, applications such as artificial intelligence are prevented from being used for repressive purposes.
