Brussels, 10/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is to take “appropriate measures” in response to the apparently spectacular rise in EU textile imports from China as soon as it has reliable figures showing real trade developments since quotas were abolished on 1 January this year, the Commission spokesperson, Françoise Le Bail, announced on Thursday. “We need to have figures. My understanding is that the figures for January and February are not yet available. As soon as we have evidence that there is a reason for major concern, we will take the appropriate measures, if there is a need for measures”. Such measures will be “in compliance with WTO rules”, she said.
On Wednesday, Euratex (the European textile and clothing industry) had formally requested special safeguard measures (on the basis of Article 241 of China's protocol for WTO membership) against twelve categories of textile products from China (see http://www.euratex.org ). The rise in import volumes and prices clearly point to “unacceptable trading practices” on the part of Chinese exporters, Euratex states in a press release. According to Euratex (which also refers to Chinese statistics), the overall value of European textile imports from China increased in January 2005 by 46.5% compared to January 2004. For just the twelve categories selected, the growth in volume was nonetheless 625%.