| Author (Person) | Glass, Jerome |
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| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.11, No.13, 7.4.05 |
| Publication Date | 07/04/2005 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Jerome Glass Date: 07/04/05 Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has presented guidelines for imposing quantitative restrictions or 'safeguard measures' against imports of textiles from China. The move comes amid pressure from the EU textiles sector and textile exporters from the developing world for action to offset the surge in Chinese imports - currently 20% of the EU market - which has gathered further momentum since global textile quotas were removed on 1 January this year. Mandelson stressed that safeguards would be a "last resort" based on "objective, transparent and based on credible data". The procedure foresees "alert zones" for each category of textile import. A rapid and sustained rise in imports will allow the Commission to launch an investigation, which in turn would lead to informal consultations with China to allow them to take action to curb their imports. If informal consultations fail, then the Commission would launch formal consultations with China at the World Trade Organization. Only after these measures proved unsuccessful would the Commission be in a position to impose safeguard measures, which would last for one year. The EU is allowed to impose special measures against Chinese textile imports on the basis of a special clause that was written into China's Protocol of Accession to the WTO in 2001. The European Commission on 6 April 2005 agreed to publish guidelines to clarify under what circumstances it would consider safeguard action against textile and clothing imports from China. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Business and Industry |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
