The quota on Chinese textile exports to the European Union will
be removed next year, a decision nailed down in meetings between
the Ministry of Commerce of China and the trade commission of the
EU last month, confirmed Sun Weibin, spokesman of the China
National Textile and Apparel Council.
According to the decision, ten categories of Chinese textiles
and clothing products exported to the EU will be no longer subject
to quantitative limits starting January 1, 2008. However, industry
experts warned that Chinese textile companies should not be too
optimistic since there are some stumbling blocks ahead.
Gu Qingliang, director of textile economy research at Donghua
University, noted that after the quota removal, the textile
industry is still subject to the restrictions of Article 16, which
allows WTO members to adopt special safeguard measures if Chinese
exports are shown to have disturbed their market order. The article
is effective through 2012.
Cheng Dawei, chief specialist with the Beijing WTO Affairs
Consultation Center, said that the EU anti-dumping or anti-subsidy
policies, as well as other safeguard measures, have greater impact
on Chinese textile exports than the old quota limitations once
imposed.
According to the National Development and Reform Commission, the
EU's regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation,
Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), effective last
month, laid down extremely complicated standards for chemical
products, and is expected to raise the cost of Chinese textile
exports by five percent on average.
These factors may endanger the survival of Chinese textile
products in the European market, according to specialists.
Industry insiders suggested that Chinese textile enterprises
should make full use of domestic market instead of relying entirely
on exporting. They also said the government should assist Chinese
enterprises to create a free and healthy environment for the
industry.
(China Daily July 19, 2007)
