RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/C/W/99
18November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5057)
Original: English Council forTrade inGoods
ELEMENTS FOR CONSIDERATION INMAJOR REVIEW OFTHE IMPLEMENTATION
OFTHE AGREEMENT ONTEXTILES AND CLOTHING (ATC)
Communication from Colombia1
Thefollowing communication hasbeenreceived from thePermanent Mission ofColombia
onbehalf ofmembers oftheITCB thatarealsoMembers oftheWTO, forcirculation toMembers.
_____________
Assessment ofIntegration Programmes
Tables
1. Integration programmes ataglance Table I
2. Integration ofrestrained products Table II
3. Number ofquotas eliminated Table III
4. 1996 quota utilization inintegrated product categories Table IV
5. Increase inquotas byapplication ofenhanced growth factors Table V
_______________
Coverage
A. Importing countries covered: WTO Members which applied quantitative restrictions
under theMFA
B. Integration programmes covered: ForStages 1and2.
1Circulated initially asanon-paper intheCouncil forTrade inGoods meeting of16October 1997.G/C/W/99
Page2
Assessment ofIntegration Programmes
Essential thatacleardistinction bedrawn inrespect ofintegration programmes ofMembers
which applied andcontinue withdiscriminatory quantitative restrictions, i.e.,Canada, EU,Norway
andUSA.
Table Ireveals thattherequired minimum percentages oftrade mayhavebeenintegrated.
However, ineachcase,theimport values ofintegrated products aremarkedly lower thantherespective
volumes. Theproportions ofyarns andfabrics intheprogrammes aremuch higher thanforclothing.
- Itmayalsobementioned that,incaseofEU'sfirststageprogramme, therewasaconsiderable
shortfall asitincluded certain products which arenotcovered bytheATC(paragraphs 17to23
oftheComprehensive Report oftheTMB, G/L/179, alsorefer).
TableIIrevealsthattheproportionsofrestrainedproductsincludedintheintegrationprogrammes
areminimal. Assuch, evenafterseven years ofimplementation, verylarge proportions (over 96%)
ofrestricted trade would remain tobeintegrated.
Table IIIshows thatveryfewquotas haveactually beeneliminated.
- IncaseofNorway, evenwhen some quotas havebeeneliminated, therespective products have
notbeenintegrated leaving openthepossibility ofinvocation ofsafeguard actions.
Table IVshows thatthefewrestrained products, tobeintegrated from 1998, wereinanycase
notcommercially significant fortherestrained countries asquota utilization rateswere verysmall.
Table Vshows thattheeffect ofgrowth-on-growth inloosening therestrictive nature ofquotas
would beminimal. Itmaynottherefore becounted upontodeliver asmooth andeffective transition
toGATT.
Conclusion
Taken together, theTables reveal thelackof"progress" towards "effective transition". Itis
apparent thattheintegration programmes forthetwostages havenotcontributed toanymeaningful
liberalization oftrade inthesector.G/C/W/99
Page3
TABLE I
Integration Programmes ataGlance
Integration asPercentage of1990 Imports
Involume Invalue
WTO
MemberStage Yarns Fabrics Made-
upsClothing Total
USA 1
2
Total8.46
8.00
16.461.65
2.51
4.154.19
4.54
8.731.92
1.98
3.9016.21
17.03
33.247.13
11.35
18.48
EU 1
2
Total4.39
11.63
16.018.14
2.22
10.363.48
2.06
5.540.38
2.09
2.4716.38
17.99
34.388.72
13.16
21.88
Canada 1
2
Total9.62
0.65
10.264.34
2.10
6.431.28
14.22
15.501.13
1.65
2.7816.36
18.61
34.9811.29
17.95
29.24
Norway 1
2
Total3.52
6.59
10.1011.87
2.39
14.260.59
11.16
11.750.15
4.17
4.3216.13
24.30
40.437.29
16.59
23.88
Notes: 1)Totals maynottallyduetorounding offigures.
2)Thefigures forEUarebased onprogrammes asnotified. They donotexclude theproducts which
arenotcovered bytheATC.
Source: 1)TMB notifications.
2)Value datafrom UNSD Comtrade database.
Observations:
Table Ireveals thattherequired minimum percentages oftrade mayhavebeenintegrated.
However, ineachcase,theimport values ofintegrated products aremarkedly lower thantherespective
volumes. Theproportions ofyarns andfabrics intheprogrammes aremuch higher thanforclothing.
- Itmayalsobementioned that,incaseofEU'sfirststageprogramme, therewasaconsiderable
shortfall asitincluded certain products which arenotcovered bytheATC(paragraphs 17to23
oftheComprehensive Report oftheTMB, G/L/179, alsorefer).G/C/W/99
Page4
TABLE II
Integration ofRestrained Products
(AsPercentage of1990 Imports)
WTO Member Stage Restrained Trade
Integrated (involume)
USA 1
20
1.30%
EU 1
20
3.15%
Canada 1
20.27%
2.05%
Norway 1
20
0
Note: Thistable indicates thepercentage ofimports ofintegrated products
which were actually under restraints.
Source: TMB notifications.
Observations:
TableIIrevealsthattheproportionsofrestrainedproductsincludedintheintegrationprogrammes
areminimal. Assuch, evenafterseven years ofimplementation, verylarge proportions (over 96%)
ofrestricted trade would remain tobeintegrated.G/C/W/99
Page5
TABLE III
Number ofQuotas tobeEliminated duetoIntegration
WTO
MemberTotal Number of
QuotasStage Quotas
Eliminated
USA 750 1
20
2
EU 219 1
20
14
Canada 295 1
26
22
Norway 53 1
20
0
Notes: 1.Thistablereflectstheeliminationofquotasasaconsequenceofintegration
ofrelatedcategoriesofproducts.Itdoesnotincludetheabolitionofquotas
under Article 2.15.
2.Thenumbers ofquotas incolumn twoinclude sub-limits andquotas for
Members whojoined WTO afterJanuary 1995. Article 2.1notifications
inrespect ofsuchMembers aremade aftertheybecome WTO Members.
Source: TMB notifications.
Observations:
Table IIIshows thatveryfewquotas haveactually beeneliminated.
- InthecaseofNorway, evenwhen some quotas havebeeneliminated. However, therespective
products havenotbeenintegrated leaving openthepossibility ofinvocation ofsafeguard actions.G/C/W/99
Page6
TABLE IV
1996 Quota Utilization inIntegrated Product Categories
Importing
WTO
MemberCategory
IntegratedCategory Description Exporting
Member under
QRsQuota
Utilization
EU 19 Handkerchiefs Macau 0.00%
EU 46 Sheep/Lamb wool Argentina 7.01%
EU 46 Sheep/Lamb wool Brazil 13.10%
EU 61 Narrow woven fabrics Hong Kong 1.55%
EU 67 Crocheted clothing
accessoriesKorea 18.67%
EU 70 Panty hose Korea 4.58%
EU 72 Swimwear Hong Kong 35.54%
EU 74 Women crocheted suits Hong Kong 6.17%
EU 77 Woven skisuits Hong Kong 17.29%
EU 77 Woven skisuits Korea 2.05%
EU 86 Corsets Korea 2.66%
EU 100 Coated fabrics Korea 46.45%
EU 111 Camping goods Korea 5.35%
USA 353/4/653/4 Down-filled coats Korea 20.68%
USA 632 Hosiery Korea 39.28%
Notes: 1)Quota utilizations forproduct categories integrated byCanada, andforcategory 91-Tents byEU,
arenotavailable.
2)Norway didnotintegrate anyproduct categories under restraint; itonlyeliminated certain quotas
under Article 2.15.
Source: EU: Eurostatistics.
USA: forcat.632: Major Shippers Report; forcat.353/4/653/4: USA General Imports.
Observations:
Table IVshows thatthefewrestrained products, tobeintegrated from 1998, wereinanycase
notcommercially significant fortherestrained countries asquota utilization rateswere verysmall.G/C/W/99
Page7
TABLE V
Increase inQuotas byApplication ofEnhanced Growth Factors
WTO
MemberAccess Increase
Stage I
EU 1.26%
Canada 1.97%
Norway 0.84%
USA 1.92%
Notes: 1)Thistable reflects increase inquota access forWTO Members due
toapplication ofenhanced growth factors (i.e.growth-on-growth).
2)Thepercentages represent thedifference between access by
applicationofpreviousgrowthratesandgrowth-on-growthpursuant
toATC Articles 2.13, 2.14(a) and2.18.
3)Thepercentages forStage Iareforthree years, i.e.,1995, 1996
and1997 combined.
Observations:
Table Vshows thattheeffect ofgrowth-on-growth inloosening therestrictive nature ofquotas
would beminimal. Itmaynottherefore becounted upon todeliver asmooth andeffective transition
toGATT.