Memo: Blocked Chinese Textiles: Important information for Importers and Traders

On 7 September 2005 EU Member States endorsed the outcome of the negotiations with China in Beijing on 4-5 September, as reflected in the Agreed Minutes of 5 September, and the Textiles Committee gave its positive opinion to a draft Commission Regulation destined to implement the Agreed Minutes and to unblock as a matter of urgency the goods shipped from 13 July in excess of the agreed levels set out in the 11 June Memorandum of Understanding (the MoU). The European Commission was taking all necessary steps to have the Regulation adopted as a matter of urgency and of the highest priority, and it was expected that it would be adopted very early in the week of 12 September, published in all the 20 official languages the next day, and enter into force the following day, thus enabling from that moment the issuance of the necessary import licences and the release into free circulation of the blocked merchandise.