The Hindu Business Line : WTO emergency meet to tackle textile quota abolition issues

THE World Trade Organisation (WTO) has held informal consultations with a range of its members for an emergency meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods (CTG) proposed by Mauritius to examine the adjustment costs related to the quota abolition due to come into effect from January 1, 2005 under the WTO's Agreement on Textiles and Clothing.

According to the world trade monitoring body in Geneva, the WTO Director General, Dr Supachai Panitchpakadi, explained that his purpose for convening this consultation was to seek members' views on the very specific plea by Mauritius for an emergency meeting of the CTG as the best or the most practical way for addressing the concerns raised by Mauritius. He said that he had also received separate letters from the Ministers of Bangladesh and Nepal raising concerns similar to those of Mauritius.

Stating that there had been mixed reactions to the request for an emergency session, Dr Supachai suggested that the forthcoming regular session of the CTG, scheduled for October 1, provides an opportunity where members could raise concerns on implementation, including those related to adjustment cost issues resulting from quota abolition at the end of the year. At that meeting, there would be a final major review of the ATC integration process, assisted by a report from the Textiles Monitoring Body (TMB), he said.

Alongside, Dr Supachai noted that the WTO Secretariat, on its own initiative, had organised three regional workshops during 2004 to address textile and clothing sectoral implementation, integration and expiry issues, including the challenge of short-term adjustment costs. The first two of these were held in Uruguay and Chin for Latin America and the Asia Pacific region. The third is due to take place in Maseru, Lesotho from September 21-23 for African countries.

Dr Supachai confirmed that he would be paying personal attention to the phase-out process between now and the end of the year.

Meanwhile, official sources told Business Line here that at the WTO informal consultations, India along with China, Brazil, Pakistan, Hong Kong China and Indonesia have made it amply clear that there is no question of reopening of ATC, even as members could identify their problems and thereafter consultations could be given to them as part of the regular CTG programme. They have apprehended that in the garb of convening an emergency meeting to examine the adjustment costs pertaining to the quota abolition due to come into effect from January 1, 2005 as voiced by the least developed countries, the developed countries might try to prolong the multi-fibre arrangement for a few more months, using the meeting as a pretext.

The sources stated that since ATC came into effect in 1995, the CTG had conducted a major review of the implementation of the agreement before the end of each stage of the integration process. For the third and final major review due to be made by the Goods Council on October 1, the TMB report covers the period 2002-04 and deals with all implementation issues, including the integration process, the transitional safeguard mechanism and quantitative restrictions. The TMB report also contains elements for an overall assessment of the implementation of the ATC.