WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TMB/R/74
5 April 2001
(01-1744)
Textiles Monitoring Body
REPORT OF THE SEVENTY-FIFTH MEETING
1. The Textiles Monitoring Body held its seventy-fifth meeting on 12 and 13 March 2001.
2. Present at this meeting were the following members and/or alternates: Messrs. Bernabe; Fox-
Drummond Gough/Rosas; Kiener/Karapinar; Kumar/Farahat; Leung; Moriya; Moroz; Nayyar/
Ms Loi; Messrs. Richards; Tagliani.
3. The TMB adopted the report of its seventy-fourth meeting (G/TMB/R/73).
Notification under Article 2.1 of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC)
4. The TMB reverted to its examination and took note of an addition made by the United States
to its notification under Article 2.1, following Oman’s accession to the WTO (G/TMB/N/63/Add.11).
This notification was made pursuant to the provisions of Oman’s Protocol of Accession to the WTO,
in which it is stated, inter alia , that "the quantitative restrictions on imports of textiles and clothing
products originating in Oman between Oman and WTO members that were in force on the date priorto the date of accession of Oman to the WTO should be notified to the Textiles Monitoring Body
(TMB) by the Member maintaining such restrictions and would be applied for the purpose of Article 2
of the Agreement on Textiles and Clot hing" (WT/ACC/OMN/26, paragraph 130).
Notifications under Articles 2.8(b) and 2.11 of the ATC
5. The TMB reviewed under Article 2.21 the notifications made, pursuant to Articles 2.8(b) and
2.11 by the European Community (G/TMB/N/363 and Add.1).  It noted that, in accordance with
Article 2.8(b), the volume of imports to be integrated amounted to 18.08 per cent of the total volume
of imports into the European Community in 1990 of the products falling under the coverage of the
Agreement.  Products from each of the four groups referred to in Article 2.8(b) would be integrated,
which would represent the following percentages of the volume of imports in 1990 in the European
Community: tops and yarns (3.82 per cent), fabrics (3.60 per cent), made-up textile products
(4.44 per cent) and clothing (6.22 per cent).  The TMB noted that the European Community wouldintegrate 57 EC product categories, of which 16 of t ops and yarns, 14 of fabrics, 18 of made-up textile
products and nine of clothing.  In addition, the European Community would integrate four made-up
textile products which are not classified in any specific EC product category.  The TMB further noted
that 11 EC categories with respect to which the European Community maintained restrictions under
Article 2.1 of the ATC had been included in the integration programme and that, therefore, suchrestrictions would be eliminated on 1 January 2002.  Restraints on these 11 EC categories affected
overall nine WTO Members.  With respect to th e two "ex-HS lines" contained in the integration
programme, the TMB noted the statement and explanation by the European Community that “the
correspondence of the imports counted in respect of these lines with the relevant product descriptions
was verified on the basis of the EC’s Combined Nomenclature to ensure their conformity with theAnnex of the ATC”.
6. The TMB reviewed under Article 2.21 the notifications made, pursuant to Articles 2.8(b) and
2.11 by Norway (G/TMB/N/359 and A dd.1).  It noted that, in accordance with Article 2.8(b), theG/TMB/R/74
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volume of imports to be integrated amounted to 21.65 per cent of the total volume of imports into
Norway in 1990 of the products falling under the coverage of the Agreement.  Products from each of
the four groups referred to in Article 2.8(b) woul d be integrated, which would represent the following
percentages of the volume of imports in 1990 in Norway: tops and yarns (2.73 per cent), fabrics
(6.27 per cent), made-up textile products (5.09 per cent) and clothing (7.57 per cent).  The TMB,being aware that all restrictions previously main tained by Norway under the ATC had been eliminated
as from 1 January 2001, noted that the integration programme contained products falling under two
product categories which had been subject to quantitative restrictions under Stages 1 or 2 of the ATC,
affecting 16 WTO Members.
7. The TMB reviewed under Article 2.21 the notifications made, pursuant to Articles 2.8(b) and
2.11 by Argentina (G/TMB/N/357 and Add.1), Cost a Rica (G/TMB/N/389),  Korea (G/TMB/N/390),
Latvia (G/TMB/N/375 and Corr.1), Liechte nstein (G/TMB/N/391), the Philippines
(G/TMB/N/358/Rev.1), Sri Lanka (G/TMB/N/365/Rev.1), and Urugua y (G/TMB/N/388/R ev.1 ).  The
TMB noted that, in accordance with Article 2.8(b), the volume of the products integrated amounted to
the following percentages of 1990 imports of the products falling under the coverage of the
Agreement (unless otherwise specified): Argentina (18.42  per cent), Costa Rica (18.00 per cent),
Korea (18.22 per cent), Latvia (35.16 per cent of 1994 imports), Liechtenstein (18.03 per cent
1), the
Philippines (18.72 per cent) Sri Lanka (19.07 per cent of the value) and Uruguay (18.03 per cent).
With respect to Costa Rica and Sri Lanka, the TMB observed that one product contained in the list of
product to be integrated for Stage 3 had already been integrated in Stage 2 (HS 5402 41 00 for
Costa Rica) or Stage 1 (HS 6001 10 for Sri Lanka) and, therefore, would not form part of the
integration to be implemented for Stage 3.  However, even if the imports of these products were notcounted the volume or value of imports integrated by Costa Rica and Sri Lanka, respectively, for
Stage 3 would amount to not less than 18 per cent of the total volume or value of these Members’
1990 imports of the products in the Annex to the ATC.  The TMB also noted that in each notification,
in accordance with Article 2.8(b), the products integrated included products from each of the four
groups: tops and yarns, fabrics, made-up textile products and clothing.  With respect to Costa Ricaand Latvia, the TMB observed that this was the case in spite of the fact that one or several products
integrated had not been classified, in the view of the Body, in the appropriate product group.  With
regard to those notifications mentioned above, for which the calculation of the share of the products
integrated had been made on the basis of a different base year, other than 1990, or on value instead of
volume, the TMB ensured that no better data were available and that the Members concerned had
followed the same approach as for the notifications they had made pursuant to Articles 2.6 and 2.7(b),
as well as 2.8(a) and 2.11.
8. The TMB continued its review under Article 2.21 of the notifications made pursuant to
Articles 2.8(b) and 2.11 by Nicaragua, Peru and the Slovak Republic. It started to examine the
clarification and explanations received from those Members and decided to revert to its review of
these notifications at a subsequent meeting.
Notification under Article 2.17 of the ATC
9. The TMB continued its review, pursuant to Article 2.21, of administrative arrangements
agreed between the United States and Oman, notified by the United States pursuant to Article 2.17.
The TMB decided to revert to its review at a subsequent meeting.
                                                     
1 The data provided refers to imports by Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as separate data for
Liechtenstein are not available.G/TMB/R/74
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Preparation for the TMB’s 2001 Comprehensive Report Pursuant to Article 8.11
10. The TMB considered and agreed on a possible structure for the comprehensive report on the
implementation of the ATC during its second stage, to be transmitted to the Council for Trade in
Goods in the context of the major review envisaged in Article 8.11 of the ATC.
Observations with Respect to Late Notifications
11. With respect to notifications addressed to the TMB after the relevant deadlines, the TMB
reiterated that its taking note of late notifications was without prejudice to the legal status of such
notifications.
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