Turkey decision to separate textiles from NAMA draws flak
30 Mar '06
3 min read
ICTSD informed that the Turkish proposal to effectively carve textiles and clothing out of the general tariff reduction formula for industrial goods in the Doha Round has provoked angry opposition from several major textile exporters such as China and Pakistan, and surprise from WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy.
During the recent week of non-agricultural market access (NAMA) negotiations (see related story, this issue), Turkey hosted a meeting on 23 March where it called for tariff 'harmonisation' in the textiles and clothing sector.
Based on the precedent that Turkey cited in an informal paper on the issue a Uruguay Round-era agreement on 'harmonising' chemical tariffs - this would require Members participating in the initiative to establish a common range of tariffs for certain types of textiles and clothing.
Turkey specifies that "all competitive producers" would have to be part of the initiative for it to benefit "all developing countries." The paper also identifies the types of textiles and clothing that Turkey would want to see covered by such a carveout.
Turkey contends that it would allow some kinds of textiles to be shielded from the full force of the NAMA tariff cutting formula, while allowing others to be cut by more than the formula demands. The other sectoral initiatives in the NAMA negotiations are seeking uniformly deeper cuts to tariffs, or their elimination altogether.
China accused Turkey of trying to resurrect quotas in textile and clothing trade after their expiry at the start of 2005; Pakistan, too, slammed the proposal for seeking to go back on the hard-won integration of textiles into the WTO system.
marketing@alchempro.com
