WORLD TRADE G/TMB/N/299
23September 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-3807)
Original: Spanish Textiles Monitoring Body
AGREEMENT ONTEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Communication from Colombia
TheTextiles Monitoring Body hasreceived acommunication from Colombia inreply toits
request foradditional information1inthecontext ofthepreparation oftheBody'sComprehensive Report
ontheimplementation oftheATCduring itsfirststage, inaccordance withparagraph 11ofArticle 8.
TheTMB iscirculating thiscommunication toWTO Members fortheirinformation.
1SeeG/TMB/11, issued on14February 1997.G/TMB/N/299
Page2
Permanent Mission ofColombia totheWTO
Geneva
24June1997
Mr.András Szepesi
Chairman
Textiles Monitoring Body
World Trade Organization
Geneva
Switzerland
Dear Mr.Szepesi,
Please findattached information onimplementation byColombia oftheprovisions ofthe
Agreement onTextiles andClothing.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) Nestor Osorio Londoño
Ambassador
Mission ofColombia totheWTOG/TMB/N/299
Page3
AGREEMENT ONTEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Notification under Article 8.11
1. Ontheentry intoforce oftheWTO (1January 1995), Colombia hadthefollowing restrictions
withtheUnited States:
Under theMFA:
On3April 1992, thetwoGovernments signed aBilateral Textiles Agreement regulating trade
inthecategories 314-cotton poplins -and315-cotton print-cloth -foratwo-year period running
from 1January 1992 to31December 1993.
Thefollowing quantities were negotiated:
Category Description Unit Growth 1992 1993
314 Cotton poplins M26% 9,000,000 9,540,000
315 Cotton print-cloth M26% 15,500,000 16,430,000
On26February 1993, theUnited States requested consultations withColombia forexports
ofmen'sandboys'suitsofCategory 443,based onthelevelofimports from Colombia amounting
to89,225 unitsduring theyearending inNovember 1992, compared with6,122 unitsintheyear1991.
On15October 1993, aMemorandum ofUnderstanding wassigned asanamendment to
theBilateral Agreement, withthefollowing terms forCategory 443:
Period Quantity -Units
1May1993 -31December 1993 80,000
1January 1994 -31December 1994 120,000
1January 1995 -31December 1995 122,412
On18November 1994, aMemorandum ofUnderstanding wassigned toextend theBilateral
Agreement fortwoyears untilDecember 1995. Therestriction onCategory 314waseliminated and
anti-circumvention language included.
2. Inaccordance withArticle 2.18oftheATC, theUnited States granted theincrease forsmall
supplier countries, thatistosaythegrowth coefficient increased by25percent. TheUnited States
expressly accepted thisprovision when itsigned theMemorandum ofUnderstanding on
18November 1994.
3. Colombia hasnotmade useofArticle 3.3oftheATC, since itdoesnotapply restrictions:
therestrictions werenotified bytheUnited States, being theonlycountry thatmaintains restrictions
onColombia.G/TMB/N/299
Page4
4. Colombiahasadministrative,civilandcriminalsanctionsforthevariousformsofcircumvention,
which must befulfilled bybothnationals andforeigners:
- TheCriminal Code inallmatters relating tofalsity inpublic documents.
- Decree 1990/92 defines thepunishable offences andprocedures forsanctioning them.
- Decree 1800/94 Decree 1220/96 andResolution 1016/97 -These allrelate tooffences
connected withinconsistencies incustoms declarations.
Inaddition, Colombia andtheUnited States haveanagreed commitment onanti-circumvention
cooperation thatiscontained intheMemorandum ofUnderstanding signed bythetwocountries on
18November 1994.
5. Asaresult oftheUruguay Round, Colombia bound the1,208 tariffitems relating toproducts
covered bytheATC. Colombia hasimplemented these obligations, maintaining tariffs atrateslower
thanthebound ones. Inaddition, itmaintains noquantitative restrictions onimports andhasnoimport
licensing requirements (Article 7.1).
7. Colombia hasnotusedanti-dumping orcountervailing measures inthissector (Article 7.1(b)).
8. Inaccordance withArticle 1.5,Colombia allows competition initsdomestic market, asreflected
intheabsence ofquantitative restrictions andtheapplication ofactual tariffs, ranging from 0to
20percentwhich arelower thanthemaximum bound tariffs of35percentfortextiles and40percent
formade-up articles.