Planning Commission member Shri N.K. Singh has urged the textiles exporting countries to be vigilant about other forms of trade restrictions that are likely to come up after the quota regime comes to an end this year. Terming the end of quota restrictions a ‘watershed event’ in the history of international trade in textiles and clothing he cautioned against the resurgence of other disguised forms of protection like visas, transshipment and anti-dumping measures. Shri Singh was delivering the inaugural address at the 39th annual council session of the International Textile and Clothing Bureau (ITCB) here today. He said the transition to the non-quota regime is important and it should be as smooth and painless as possible. Highlighting the changing demographic profile in several countries, he said, the demand for textiles and clothing is bound to go up in Asia, Africa and Latin American countries. Therefore, our effort should be to maximise gains from trade in textiles. He said, the Government of India has adopted a fiscal policy on textiles which is transparent, has a programme of debt restructuring and has also adopted a regime on modernisation. He said, with the world getting integrated, production would be driven by efficiency which we must strive for.
Speaking on the occasion the Commerce Secretary, Shri Dipak Chatterjee said that the end of quota regime does not mean that protection will disappear. He said the developing countries must resist any attempt to extend the quota regime. He hoped that the world trade in textiles and clothing, currently valued at about 350 billion dollars, will grow as a result of the elimination of the quota regime. He stressed that the liberalized trading regime in textiles and clothing will bring economic and human development benefits to the people in developing countries. He also underlined the need for utilisation of opportunities offered by Doha Development Agency in the market access in order to give further impetus to liberalization in this sector.
Textiles Secretary, Shri S.B. Mohapatra who presided over the function appreciated the role of ITCB. He said, ITCB has been at the centre stage of developing efforts towards freeing the international economic order from decades of restrictions in the textiles sector. He said, the journey from quota to quota - free regime has been long, bumpy and painstakingly slow, but we are happy to have almost arrived there. He said, the Doha Work Programme contains a number of provisions relevant to the rate issues i.e. anti dumping, countervailing duties, rules of origin, trade facilitation etc. which are not limited to textiles and clothing but are relevant to the sector. He urged the ITCB members to remain vigilant so as to ensure that the rules are not reframed in a manner that is detrimental to the interest of developing countries. Shri Mohapatra said, along with the trade defence measures, tariffs on textiles would continue to draw attention during the WTO market access negotiations. He said, in major markets the textile tariffs are many times more than the average tariffs. The tariff issue remained in the background during the earlier rounds of multilateral trade negotiations where the attention was focussed on the quota restriction, he added.
In his welcome address India’s Ambassador and permanent representative to WTO Shri K.M. Chandrashekhar underlined the importance of cohesion and coalition building to withstand the forces of protection. He said, we must maintain our focus on full and faithful implementation of the ATC in the immediate term. He said, we should deliberate on how best we can press for further liberalisation of trade in the sector and utilise ITCB resources to our mutual advantage.
The ITCB is an intergovernmental body of developing countries involved in the export of textiles and clothing. The annual session is being attended by over 80 delegates from various countries besides representatives of WTO, UNCTAD, ITC, the trade associations of various member countries.
(Release ID :1491)