Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 8 • Number 41 • 1st December 2004
WTO Goods, Development Groups Meet On Textiles Adjustment
Debate on the post-quota trading environment in the textiles and clothing sector continued recently at a WTO Council for Trade in Goods meeting on 25 November and a Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) meeting on 26 November. Members continued to clash about whether — and in what forum — to address the concerns of several smaller developing countries regarding the adjustment needs that will be created when guaranteed quota access expires along with the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) at the end of 2004.
Goods Council to continue discussions
Goods Council Chair Ambassador Choi Hyuck of Korea said Members were still discussing the draft report for the General Council on the final stage of the implementation of the ATC (see BRIDGES Weekly, 17 November 2004). The draft report is once again before the Goods Council for review and adoption, following dedicated review sessions within the council. The Goods Council agreed to suspend consideration of the draft report to allow more discussion on the issue and will reconvene before the December meeting of the General Council.
The Chair also referred to informal consultations held on 19 November on post-quota adjustment issues raised by Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Jamaica, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Uganda in their submission to the 1 October Goods Council Meeting (G/C/W/496/Rev.1). The latest version of the submission calls for a WTO "study aiming at identifying the adjustment-related issues and costs that may arise with the phase-out of the ATC, including recommendations on measures to address such issues," along with the establishment of a permanent Goods Council work programme to find solutions to the adjustment problems identified.
Goods Council Chair Hyuck said that the Chair of the CTD Sub-Committee on Least Developed Countries (LDCs) is exploring the possibility of commissioning a WTO Secretariat study on LDC competitiveness in the textiles sector after the ATC (see BRIDGES Weekly, 3 November 2004). To this Sri Lanka and Turkey countered that competitiveness in global textiles trade after the removal of quotas is of concern to many developing countries, not just LDCs.
Sri Lanka, the US, Zambia (on behalf of the LDCs), Uganda, Turkey, Bangladesh, Jordan, El Salvador, Tunisia, the EC, Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic and Mongolia wanted adjustment problems to remain on the Goods Council’s agenda. China, India and Pakistan said that that there was no consensus on this in the informal consultations, and instead suggested that the discussions on adjustment-related issues be shifted to the LDC Sub-Committee. India was content, however, to have the Chair continue with the informal consultations. China, for its part, said it was willing to continue talks with other delegations. The Chair said he would continue informal consultations when appropriate before the end of the year or early next year.
Technical assistance plan blocked by textiles posturing
In related news, Members were once again unable to approve the 2005 technical assistance and training plan (TATP) (WT/COMTD/W/133/Rev.1) at a 26 November session of the CTD session owing to resistance from China, India, Pakistan and Hong Kong to the inclusion of a regional seminar on "post-ATC Environment and DDA Market Access negotiations for each region". The rest of the TATP has already been approved.
Sources suggest that while resistance to the plan from India, Pakistan and Hong Kong has cooled, China’s reported "political interest" in ensuring that textile-related adjustment issues keep a low profile has led to the TATP being effectively taken hostage. China has apparently suggested holding national activities instead (which are not included in the plan or subsequent reporting) or moving the training to a different organisation, but several developing countries — whose development policies are seriously threatened by a lack of capacity or knowledge on how to manage the rapid changes expected in the textiles and clothing sector — have said that they simply want assistance to help them adjust to the new, liberalised trading environment.
ICTSD Reporting; "China Fails in Bid to End WTO Talks On Textile, Apparel Adjustment Issues," WTO REPORTER, 29 November 2004; "China and Pak back India in stalling WTO talks on textiles," PAKISTAN TRIBUNE, 26 November 2004.