6:54 AM Oct 27, 1994

TEXTILES: ITCB 'DISMAY' OVER FIRST STAGE INTEGRATION

Geneva 27 Oct (Chakravarthi Raghavan) -- The International Textiles and Clothing bureau has expressed its "dismay" that the three major MFA importing countries (Canada, EU and US) have hardly liberalised any significant MFA restrictions on any developing country" under their planned first stage implementation of the WTO's Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC).

The ITCB is the alliance of the Third World exporting countries of textiles and clothing under the Multifibre Agreement.

The ATC envisages the integration of this trade into the normal GATT rules over a 10-year period, with a parallel process of liberalisation of existing quotas and restrictions and a phase-out of restrictions under the MFA and its bilateral accords.

When the World Trade Organization enters into force, and the first stage of the ATC begins, the importing countries are required to integrate into the GATT 1994, and bring under its trading rules and disciplines, no less than 16% of the textiles and clothing products imported in 1990, choosing from among HS product lines listed in the Annex to the ATC.

Under the Marrakesh Ministerial Declaration relating to the ATC, the importing countries were asked to notify by 1 October to the GATT secretariat their programmes of integration in the first stage of the ATC which begins on the first day of entry into force of the WTO.

After examining these notifications, and the details of the integration programmes in them, the ITCB (in a communique) expressed its 'deep disappointment' with the integration programmes of the first stage notified by the MFA restraining countries to the GATT secretariat.

"The notifications," the ITCB said. "do not demonstrate the political will of the restraining countries to integrate textile products leading to liberalisation of trade. They do not provide for integration of commercially meaningful products of interest to the developing countries."

"The ATC was designed for the phase out of the MFA and further liberalisation of trade. Instead, the restraining countries have mostly chosen products from outside their MFA systems. The ITCB had hoped that they would have included in their integration programmes a judicious mixture of restrained and unrestrained products so as to contribute to further liberalisation of trade. It notes with dismay that the three major importing countries have hardly liberalised any significant MFA restriction on any developing country."

The communique said that there were "several variations" in the notified import volumes compared to the trade data circulated by the developed countries in July 1991. "These variations have a bearing on the obligation of proportionate integration in the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing. It is therefore essential for the MFA restraining countries submit definitive import data for 1990 in terms of their national classifications of the HS lines," the ITCB said.

It added: "The ITCB stresses that liberalisation of MFA restrictions requires a momentum of change created through meaningful integration programmes. In this regard, the ITCB would urge countries maintaining their restrictions to take fully into account the legitimate expectations of its members."