Quota System Won't Be Extended, Says Mandelson

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

08 September 2005

As uncertainty continues over the fate of the deal reached by the European Commission and the Chinese government over textile imports this year and beyond, Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson stated in an interview that the quota regime put in place to prevent the EU from being flooded by cheap Chinese clothes will not be extended when it expires in 2008.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal in Beijing, Mr Mandelson explained that:

"When you intervene in a mrket in this way the law of unforeseen consequences will inevitably kick in."

He went on to add that trying to manage trade through quotas is "intrinsically difficult", and stated that he would be unlikely to impose similar curbs in other areas.

Member states are meeting today to discuss whether to approve the deal, although it is thought that countries including France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece and Poland are likely to raise objections to the way in which the agreement is being presented by the European Commission.

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