WTO warned of pending textiles crisis

Clothing and textile industries, particularly in developing countries, faced a crisis of unprecedented proportions, a global alliance for fair trade in the industry said in a statement following last week''''''''s three-day summit in Brussels.

The summit was attended by executives and government observers from 25 countries, including the SA Textile Federation (Texfed).

Texfed signed the Istanbul declaration - a letter to the director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) calling for a three-year extension to the January 1 2005 deadline on textile and apparel quotas.

Delegates will urge their governments to call for an emergency meeting of the WTO to find solutions to the pending crisis associated with the expiry of the quotas.

An anticipated flood of cheap imports, mainly from China, threatens to swamp world trade, leading to a "catastrophic transfer of wealth" and the loss of 30 million jobs worldwide.

"We are concerned that the transition to open textile and clothing markets should proceed in a manner that serves the original WTO intent to create conditions of fair, open and equitable textile trade.