WORLD TRADE G/TMB/N/212
5February 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-0421)
Textiles Monitoring Body
AGREEMENT ONTEXTILES AND CLOTHING
TheTextiles Monitoring Body having considered, atitsmeeting on17to19December 1996,
pursuanttoparagraph21ofArticle2,thecommunicationreceivedfromColombiaonbehalfofColombia
andseveral other WTO Members thatarealsomembers oftheInternational Textiles andClothing
Bureau,1senttheattached response toColombia.
TheTMB iscirculating thisresponse toWTO Members fortheirinformation.
1Issued asdocument G/TMB/N/211.
./.G/TMB/N/212
Page2
20December 1996
Dear Mr.Ambassador,
Ithank youforyour letter of6November, onbehalf ofColombia andseveral other
WTO Members thatarealsomembers oftheITCB, which theTMB wasinaposition todiscuss in
detail onlyatitsmeeting of17-19 December 1996.
TheTMB firstconsidered yoursuggestion that"itseems thattheverification ofintegrated
volumes would befacilitated iftheMembers arerequested tonotify theconversion factors alsointhe
notification oftheirintegration programmes submitted totheTMB under Article 2.8"oftheATC.
TheTMB noted that,according toparagraph 11ofArticle 2,Article 2.8(a) notifications arerequired
bytheendofthisyear, andthatitmight, therefore, beinconveniently latetorequest information on
conversion factors atthistimefromallWTO Members. TheTMB assumed thatitmight perhaps be
ofgreater importance toobtain relevant information from those WTO Members which maintain
restrictions under Article 2.TotheTMB'sknowledge, information pertinent totheconcern you
expressed isavailable withrespect totheUnited States, which hasprovided conversion factors tothe
TMB (thisdocument isavailable attheTMB secretariat). AstotheEuropean Community andNorway,
theTMB understands thattheycollect statistical datainauniform volume unit;therefore, conversion
factors arenotnecessary forthepurpose ofverification. Inaddition, theEuropean Community has
notified itsconversion factors inthecontext ofitsnotification under Article 2.1(G/TMB/N/60). With
respect toCanada, theTMB noted that,during theUruguay Round, theNegotiating Group onTextiles
andClothing hadbeenprovided withtradedatainvolume terms, onaline-by-line basis, fortheproducts
included intheAnnex totheATC. Suchdatacanbeusedtocalculate theconversion factors. Moreover,
theTMB understood thatsuchdatacould again beprovided byCanada early intheNewYear.
Theabove iswithout prejudice tothemethod ofreview ofArticle 2.8(a) notifications bythe
TMB.
Concerningthesecondmatter,thatisthecategorizationofproductsinthefourgroupsmentioned
inArticle 2.6and2.8oftheATC, theTMB tooknoteoftheconcern expressed inyourletter, which
itunderstood toberelated toabroader spectrum thantheexamples given inyourletter. Initsdiscussion,
theTMB noted thattheATC onlyrequires thatproducts ofthefourgroups berepresented ateach
stageofintegration. Itfeltthataproblem would onlyexistif,atagiven stageofintegration, allproducts
inagiven group were, intheviewofoneormore WTO Members, inadequately placed inthatgroup.
Therefore,asapreliminaryview,theTMBconsideredthattheimplicationofalackofafullyharmonized
approach might notnecessarily affect theintegration programmes themselves. TheTMB will,however,
initsreview ofintegration programmes, payparticular attention totheidentification ofanydiscrepancies
theremight betotheclassification ofproducts inanyofthefourgroups. Additional examples Colombia
mayhavewould alsoassist theTMB infurther considering whatmight needtobedoneinthisfield,
andifso,how.
Please accept, Mr.Ambassador, theassurances ofmyhighest consideration.
András Szepesi
Chairman
Textiles Monitoring Body
H.E. Mr.N.Osorio
Permanent Representative ofColombia
Permanent Mission ofColombia
Avenue Giuseppe Motta 48
1202 Geneva