The World Trade Organisation
is unlikely to convene an emergency meeting on textiles,
as demanded by some countries in the face of dismantling
of quotas with effect from January 01, 2005. Since convening
an emergency session could set a bad precedent in the
apex multilateral trade body, WTO Director General Supachai
Panitchpakdi has not shown keenness on accepting this
demand.
After holding informal consultations with members on the request made by Mauritius for an emergency meeting of Council for Trade in Goods to examine adjustment costs related to quota phase-out, Supachai said the matter could be taken up at the regular meeting of the Council scheduled for October 01.
The October meeting will do the final review of the ATC integration process, assisted by a report from the Textiles Monitoring Body.
The Agreement on Textiles and Clothing came into effect from 1995. India is working very closely with China in the area of textiles at multilateral level, official sources said.
Source: PTI, August 9'
2004 |
