Brussels, 06/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - More than 800 people representing all the parties involved in the textile and clothing industries of more than 70 countries met in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the present situation and future prospects for their industry with regard to the end of the tariff system in 2005 and the incorporation of the industry (covered at the moment by the Multi-Fibre Agreement) into World Trade Organisation rules (WTO rules). European Commissioner Pascal Lamy spoke of the "big bang". In less than twenty months from now, he said, a page will have been turned on "four decades of quotas imposed by industrialised countries, representing nearly two thirds of world imports". This is a real subject of development (and is the leading theme of the Doha negotiation programme, and the aim of the European trade policy). It is also a real challenge for industrial policy, social policy and regional policy whose impact will be felt everywhere, mainly in the least advanced economies and in the developing economies, countries that are the smallest and poorest and which are highly dependent on this sector, he stressed. He went on, however, to warn against alarmist and over-hasty conclusions. The impact will, at the end of the day, depend considerably on the response that industry (and the companies themselves) give to improve competitiveness and to harmonise market needs, as well as policies followed by the public authorities, sound macro-economic policies, a sound legislative framework, infrastructure investment, training and qualification, and the mobility of men and women who work in these sectors, as well as progress towards conditions for access to equitable markets, comparable at world level and accompanied by the elimination of non-tariff barriers. The 2005 deadline, which is also that of the WTO round of talks, will see greater attention being paid to the non-tariff obstacles and tariffs and, generally speaking, to the rules of the game of international competition, he added. He said he was convinced that the question of fundamental social rights, although dismissed in Doha from the scope of international trade issues despite efforts on behalf of the EU, will rise up again on this occasion and that, this time, it will probably be at the request of the developing countries which were successfully opposed to it in Doha.