Reducing protectionism in clothing and textiles

Whilst the Uruguay Round liberalised trade in clothing and textiles, implementation is end-loaded. The Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA), which has provided since 1974 a free-standing multilateral framework for the proliferation of discriminatory quantitative restrictions against 35 developing countries and economies in transition, is to be phased out under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). All bilaterally agreed and MFA-based quantitative restrictions are to be notified to the Textiles Monitoring Board for removal according to a graduated schedule, with expanded quotas in the interim.