EU : Agrees Textile Alliance With Japan On WTO Issues

The Japanese and EU textile and clothing industries have agreed to form an alliance to ensure their concerns are kept at the forefront of international debate on World Trade Organisation market access issues.

The decision follows a meeting between the Japan Textile Federation and the European Textile and Apparel Organisation (Euratex) on Monday. In addition to WTO negotiations in relation to market access for non-agricultural products in both tariff and non-tariff barrier areas, the two delegations discussed proposals from both the Japanese Government and the EU Commission.

One of the main outcomes of this wide-ranging review was the fact that the industries in Europe and Japan, which have very similar and low tariff levels and markets open to foreign competition, hold identical views as to the need for all other member countries of WTO to reduce their textile and clothing tariffs to similar low levels, through a sectoral approach to the WTO negotiations.

They two delegations also called for the removal of non-tariff barriers to trade, and expressed concern that inadequate attention was being paid in WTO to the difficulties which a number of least developed countries would face after 2004.

Euratex president Filiep Libeert said the discussions showed “that industry in Japan and the EU takes the same rational view to the challenges of international trade in textiles and clothing after 2004 and the end of the quotas.”

Japanese Textile Federation leader Masaki Sakurai agreed that “our objectives are identical, and that we must continue to work together to ensure that there is genuine market access in world trade in this important sector”.

A return visit to Japan by the President of Euratex is planned for March 2003.