To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken and intends to take to discourage foreign manufacturers producing fraudulent imitations of United Kingdom manufacturers' footwear products.

Our legislation provides effective remedies against the sale of counterfeit goods in the United Kingdom. The Government also recognise the importance of discouraging international trade in counterfeit goods. One of their chief objectives in the current GATT Uruguay round negotiations on trade-related aspects of intellectual property is to achieve strengthened multilateral rules for combating trade in counterfeit goods, which should be of benefit to all sectors of United Kingdom manufacturing.