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EU says India repeatedly violated MoU on textile products

Sudipt Arora in Brussels

The European Commission has said India had repeatedly violated a memorandum of understanding on arrangements in the area of market access for textile products.

The MoU was signed in Brussels on December 31, 1994 after officials from both sides held discussions on market access for textiles and clothing products.

''India had agreed to bind its tariffs and notify to the World Trade Organisation secretariat within 60 days of the date of entry into force of the WTO,'' said an EC director general. ''It has not done that so far.''

She was talking to UNI on the condition of anonymity. The EC is the executive body of the 15-nation European Union.

While EC officials say India has not respected its commitments under the MoU, Indian authorities maintain that doing so would put the domestic industry in a perilous position.

So in recent years, the country decided to use clause 6 of the MoU which said, ''The EC will give favourable consideration to the requests which the Indian government might introduce for exceptional flexibilities, in addition to the flexibilities applicable under the bilateral textiles agreement.''

In each quota year, the total amount of exceptional flexibilities will not exceed 2,500 tonnes for any particular textiles category or 3,000 tonnes for any particular clothing category.

UNI

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