EU and Japan  to Form Textile Alliance

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.

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.  

The 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. Besides, both parties  share the same rational view to the challenges of international trade in textiles and clothing after 2004 and the end of the quotas.

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