Lamy says LDCs concern on textile exports 'largely belied'
20 Dec '06
5 min read
Pascal Lamy, Director General, World Trade Organization, held an online chat with world wide audience on December 18, 2006, and Fibre2fashion had the privilege to ask him the following questions concerning textiles, agriculture and WTO.
Following is the transcript of the same:
Fibre2fashion: Since days when GATT was implemented, textile trade has been at the receiving end and countries have been pandering quotas under the pretext of promoting global economy. Worst still, illegal transhipments' and flagrant violation of 'country of origins' rule have been the order of the day exposing those poor countries who never had any inherent capacities (finances, skilled manpower and raw materials - resources) to grow within the trade, in the first place. Having given this window of opportunity to develop them and finally removing them since 2005, have they really served any purpose as most of the Least Developed Countries have hardly shown any evidence of apparent growth or even faring in the worst manner on the economic front? Shouldn't textiles be accorded special status under the Doha Round Negotiations, in this context?
Pascal Lamy: The Agreement on Textiles and Clothing was introduced to regulate the gradual opening of trade in textiles and clothing, including to address the concerns expressed by some countries about the impact that the immediate removal of quotas may have on their domestic textile industries. The Agreement clearly foresaw the complete liberalisation of global trade in textiles and clothing by 2005. During the interim 10 years the Agreement contributed to the growth of exports of textiles and clothing from some LDCs and led to increased investment in these countries. These LDCs acknowledge that this played a critical role in their export growth, including because of the fact that a number of other textile manufacturers could only export under quotas. As a result some of the LDCs were rather concerned about the effect of the phasing out of the global quotas Agreement on their textile exports. However, nearly two years after the removal of the quotas and the phasing out of the Agreement, these concerns appear to have been largely belied.
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