Not my cup of tea – Is free trade undermining CSR?

On the 9th of November 2005 the Dutch MVO Platform (CSR Platform) organized a public debate about the future of CSR in trade and investment agreements. The tea industry in India served as an example to find answers to the following questions: what obligations do companies have referring to social and environmental conditions in the supply chain? Which policy adjustments should be made to centralize poverty reduction in trade and investment agreements and in CSR policy of the Dutch government? And which international agreements should be made about the responsibilities of companies? These issues were discussed on three levels: production level, trade level and consumer level. On each level two experts gave their recommendations for corporations and governments, panel, members of parliament and the audience could react to these recommendations.