We are connected to the private sector, basically. In Colombia there are 800,000 workers who are organized into unions in the Colombian federations, the SCT and the CUT. We have to add something that's very important at the time of making any sort of a decision, this being that the CUT is a central one that has more workers from the official sector—that is, teachers, people from justice, everything that has to do with civil service. And whether there's an agreement or not, it's the same for them.
We who are from the private sector, particularly with respect to SCT, we produce, we manufacture, and we export. But the reason we're here today at the table, we who've had an opportunity to be in the United States as well as in Europe, is that we've realized that this negative campaign carried out by some people from Colombia has been politicized. It has become a political tool against the current government.
I have been involved in the union movement for the past 30 years. I have been involved in strikes. I have carried out tasks in terms of the right to association. And all of us who are here at the table today have carried these activities out. But we realize that people from here, in Colombia, who are against the free trade agreement, we've seen them in the U.S. Senate, those who do not want the free trade agreement, and here they come and burn the U.S. flag. So we see that there is not something that has an identity for the country.
We in the production sector export 40% of textile and clothing to external markets. We've understood that the agreements that are made between Colombia and other countries of the world are about the healthy management of people: some have technology and others provide labour. We recognize in Canada some requirements that have been made of the government—the right to association, respect of human rights, and legislation are indicated. Here, intellectual property has been a requirement as well, and we think that in good trade relations we have to respect these. We repeat, our industries complement what you do. Whatever you do not manufacture, we manufacture. As a tropical country, we have different products that are exported to countries in the north, including Canada.