|
The Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA) governed the world trade in textiles and garments from 1974 through 2004, imposing quotas on the amount developing countries could export to developed countries. It expired on 1 January 2005. This article is about the type of fabric. ...
A quota is a prescribed number or share of something. ...
A developing country is a country with a low income average, a relatively backwards infrastructure and a poor human development index when compared to the global norm. ...
A developed country is a nation that enjoys a relatively high standard of living through a strong high-technology diversified economy. ...
January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ...
2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...
The MFA was introduced in 1974 as a short-term measure intended to allow developed countries to adjust to imports from the developing world. Developing countries have a natural advantage in textile production because it is labour intensive and they have low labour costs. According to a World Bank/IMF study, the system has cost the developing world 27 million jobs and $40 billion a year in lost exports. 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ...
Logo of the World Bank The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, in Romance languages: BIRD), better known as the World Bank, is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by WWII. Now, its mission has expanded to fight poverty by means...
The flag of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the international organization entrusted with overseeing global financial system‘s current trade account balances of member states. ...
However, the Arrangement was not negative for all developing countries. For example the EU imposed no restrictions or duties on imports from the very poorest countries, such as Bangladesh, leading to a massive expansion of the industry there.
At the GATT Uruguay Round, it was decided to bring the textile trade under the jurisdiction of the World Trade Organisation. The Agreement on Textiles and Clothing provided for the gradual dismantling of the quotas that existed under the MFA. This process was completed on 1 January 2005. However, large tariffs remain in place on many textile products. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (usually abbreviated GATT) functions as the foundation of the WTO trading system, and remains in force, although the 1995 Agreement contains an updated version of it to replace the original 1947 one. ...
The Uruguay Round was a trade negotiation lasting from September 1986 to April 1994 which transformed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade into the World Trade Organization. ...
For other uses of the initials WTO, see WTO (disambiguation). ...
January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ...
2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...
Bangladesh is expected to suffer the most from the ending of the MFA, as it will now face fierce competition, particularly from China. Poorer countries within the developed world, such as Greece and Portugal, are also expected to lose out.
During early 2005, textile and clothing exports from China to the West grew by 100% or more in many items, leading the US and EU to cite China's WTO accession agreement allowing them to restrict the rate of growth to 7.5% per year until 2008. In June, China agreed with the EU to limit the rate to 10% for 3 years. No such agreement was reached with the US, which imposed its own import growth quotas of 7.5% instead.
When the EU announced their new quotas to replace the lapsed MFA, Chinese manufacturers accelerated their shipping of the goods intended for the European market. This used up a full year's quota almost immediately. As a result, 75 million items of imported Chinese garments were held in European ports in August 2005. A diplomatic resolution was reached at the beginning of September during Tony Blair's visit to China, putting an end to a situation the UK press had dubbed Bra Wars. The Right Honourable Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953 in Edinburgh, Scotland) is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ...
See also
Outward Processing Arrangement states that Hong Kong manufacturers can subcontract subsidiary and finishing processes to mainland factories as long as the major transformation of the garment takes place in Hong Kong. ...
External links | 
Feeds |
Contact