WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/C/W/573 
9 March 2007 
 
 (07-0972) 
Council for Trade in Goods Original:   English 
  
 
 
ISSUES RELATED TO THE TEXTILES AND CLOTHING SECTOR  
 
Communication from Turkey
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 6 March 2007, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Turkey.  
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. Due to the particular importance of the tex tiles and clothing sectors in the economies of many 
developing and least developed countries, Turkey has brought up the proposal for the establishment of 
a Work Program on various occasions at the platform  of the Council for Trade in Goods (CTG). The 
last initiative of Turkey to that end was the co mmunication of April 2006 (G/C/W/549) within which 
the terms of all WTO member countries. In the me ntioned document, the dr aft terms of reference 
were stated as :  
"Fully respecting the basic principles and rules of the WTO and rights and obligations of the 
Members, the CTG will establish a work program that will review the global textiles and 
clothing production, trade and market circumstances after the termination of the ATC; look 
into options for developing countries to improve their competitiveness in the textiles and clothing sector; scrutinize the adjustment-relate d international organi zations, including the 
World Bank, International Monetary Fund in order to effectively direct resources under 
existing programs toward diversification of economies relying heavily on the textiles and 
clothing sector." 
2. Since then, the proposal has gained the s upport of a vast majority of the WTO member 
countries. 
3. In this spirit, Turkey takes an additional step upon the mentioned proposal, to provide a more 
fertile ground for the mostly encouraged contributio ns of the WTO members regarding the details of 
the terms of reference of the Work Program. Anot her significant reason for the circulation of this 
communication is the belief that the time elapsed since the phase-out of the Agreement on Textiles 
and Clothing (ATC) provides us with reliable a nd adequate amount of data on which a thorough 
analysis can be built, and thus it is high time for su ch a study to be made. Thus, Turkey submits today 
a draft work outline for the Program. 
4. In this respect, Turkey wo uld like to underline once again that  the Work Program will provide 
the WTO members with tangible and dependable data demonstrating, most significantly, the effects of 
the quota phase-out on production, investment and trad e in the textiles and clothing sectors. It will 
supply a more cross-cutting thematic discussion by putting forth the accurate analysis of the current G/C/W/573 
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  circumstances. Policy options, technical advice and pr actical assistance granted in scope of the Work 
Program, will be of great help to many countries that are in need of we ll-established readjustment 
strategies. 
5. Turkey also re-emphasizes that the stakehol ders of this Work Prog ram are all WTO member 
countries. In this line of thinking, the draft work outline of the Program has been formulated in a way 
to lead to an impartial analysis based on empirical methods. 
6. The draft outline is hereby introduced to the attention of all WTO members with the aim to 
offer a constructive basis for any po ssible suggestions in this regard. 
II.  OUTLINE FOR THE WORK PROGRAM 
A. I
NTRODUCTION  
A brief explanation of the study, methods to be  employed, references to the other studies 
made by international organizations and the academia. 
B. THE HISTORY OF TEXTILES AND CLOTHING INDUSTRY AND TRADE  
Background information on the production proce ss of the sector, factors of production, 
technology and innovation, its correlation with different levels of de velopment in economies, 
reasons for trade, bilateral and multilateral ag reements, comparison of their phases with WTO 
Agreements, importance of the sector to develope d, developing and least  developed countries, 
state of the art.  
C. G
LOBAL TEXTILES AND CLOTHING PRODUCTION , TRADE AND COMPETITIVENESS BEFORE 
THE TERMINATION OF THE ATC 
Production and trade figures until 2005, market shar es, degree of competitiveness and factors 
affecting cost of production, changes that occurred in the textiles and clothing sector 
throughout the ten-year period during which the ATC was in place, reasons for changes in  
production, trade and market shares, invest ment flows, empirical comparison between 
developed and developing countries as well as amon g the developing countries, expectations 
from post-ATC, period, measures taken / level of preparedness by the countries for post-ATC 
era before 2005.  
D. T
RADE AND MARKET CIRCUMSTANCES AFTER THE TERMINATION OF THE ATC 
Similar statistical figures from Part C for 200 5-2006, comparison and conclusions with the 
period of pre-2005, key developments after th e termination of the ATC regarding market 
forces i.e. changes in production, consumption,  trade, market shares and labour market, 
evaluation of initial expectations and effectiven ess of the trade policy measures taken, other 
factors influencing the sector, adjustment challenges and bottlenecks for developing countries, circumstances in the sector after ATC.  
E. P
ROSPECTIVE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TEXTILES AND CLOTHING SECTOR  
A statistical approach based on the available data to the estimation of forthcoming 
developments in production, investment and tr ade of the sector, new factors of investment 
decisions, other developments that might aff ect the industry (including Doha negotiations); 
challenges and opportunities for developing count ries, the role of technology and innovation 
in trade of the sector, future trade of new textiles and other high tech products.  G/C/W/573 
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F. CONCLUSION AND POLICY OPTIONS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO COPE WITH THE 
CHALLENGES  
In conformity with other findings taking a balance sheet of the status quo, systematic 
identification of needs and priorities, policy options for developing countries regarding 
regulatory frameworks, alternative product stra tegies based on comparative advantage model, 
WTO-consistent, adjustment policies includi ng labour adjustment, possible options for 
benefiting from relevant programs of other inte rnational organizations, projects to implement 
private sector development strategies, access to information, ways to enhance human capital, 
conclusions. 
 
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