EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said on Monday he has
tabled EU member states proposals to remove restrictions on Chinese
textile imports stockpiled in major European ports.
"I have set in motion procedures to unblock the goods,"
Mandelson told a news conference at the European Commission,
pledging efforts to release millions of items of Chinese-made
clothing stopped because newly-set quotas were used up.
Mandelson declined to give details of his plans, but said he
hoped EU member states would quickly approve them.
"There is no reason for blocking them ... The goods will be
unblocked," he said.
Mandelson said negotiations with the Chinese side "so far have
not produced a mutually satisfactory solution," adding that the
talks would continue.
He said EU member states, China and textile retailers should
take responsibility for the current stockpiles, but "no one in
particular is to blame" for the deadlock.
The EU and China agreed in Shanghai in June to limit trade
growth in ten clothing categories from sweaters to brassieres to
about 10 percent after manufacturers in France, Italy and Spain
complained that the end of quotas on January 1 had resulted in a
surge of Chinese clothing imports into Europe.
However, the new limits left stockpiles of clothing imported by
European wholesalers and retailers before June, causing an outcry
from local importers.
Mandelson defended the Shanghai agreement, saying there was no
better alternative.
(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2005)