Last updated October 2007

TRADE IN TEXTILES AND CLOTHING

********************************************************************************** 1. SELECTED WORLD WIDE WEBSITES (WWW) ........................................................................... 2 Asian Development Bank: World Trade Organization Toolkit - Textiles and Clothing.................................. 2 Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission, Textile website ................................................ 2 Emerging Textiles............................................................................................................................................ 2 Fibre2fashion ................................................................................................................................................... 2 Global Alliance for Fair Textile Trade (GAFTT) ............................................................................................ 2 International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC).......................................................................................... 2 International Trade Centre (ITC), Textile and Clothing Website .................................................................... 3 International Textiles and Clothing Bureau (ITCB) ........................................................................................ 3 Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) ....................................................................................................... 3 Textile Exchange Online (TEOnline) .............................................................................................................. 3 Textile World Asia........................................................................................................................................... 3 UNDP Regional Centre in Colombo (RCC) .................................................................................................... 3 World Trade Organization (WTO), textiles ..................................................................................................... 4 2. SELECTED READING ......................................................................................................................... 4 Annual Report on Social Responsibility of China Textile and Apparel Industry. .......................................... 4 Clothing and export diversification: still a route to growth for low-income countries? ................................. 4 Documents from the Regional Dialogue on Restrictive Policies and Measures in the Textile and Clothing Trade. ....................................................................................................................................................... 4 Export diversification and value addition for human development. Addressing the impact of the Agreement on Textile and Clothing expiration on Cambodia. .................................................................................... 5 Garment Exports from Asian LDEs: Can It Be Sustained? ............................................................................ 5 Improving Indonesia's competitiveness: case study of textile and farmed shrimp industries. ........................ 5 Textiles & Clothing Sector in South Asia: Coping with Post-quota Challenges. ........................................... 5 Trade and investment agreements. .................................................................................................................. 6 Weaving a New World: Realizing Development Gains in a Post-ATC Trading System. .............................. 6

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Information compiled by the Trade and Investment Division, UNESCAP www.unescap.org/tid

Last updated October 2007

1. SELECTED WORLD WIDE WEBSITES (WWW)

Asian Development Bank: World Trade Organization Toolkit - Textiles and Clothing http://www.adb.org/Documents/Others/OGC-Toolkits/WTO/wto0700.asp To deepen understanding of international trade law under WTO and its relevance to the work of ADB, this Toolkit provides a convenient source of reference materials on international trade rules under WTO. The Toolkit contains a conceptual framework for the structure of international trade law, a road map for understanding the linkages among various agreements under WTO, the legal matters covered by these agreements, and an instrument to assist in conducting analysis of legal issues in international trade law. The Textiles and Clothing section provides opportunity to learn more about the elimination of quotas, the expansion of remaining quotas and safeguards. Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission, Textile website http://trade-info.cec.eu.int/textiles/index.cfm The Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission is in charge of implementing the common trade policy of the European Union. The website is structured along various trade issues, including trade in industrial goods under which the textile and footwear sector is listed. The website provides a general introduction; statistics; legislation, reports and texts, as well as SIGL (Systme Intgr de Gestion de Licenses), the Directorate General for Trades integrated system for the management of licences for imports of textiles, clothing, footwear and steel to the EU. The website also links to further websites within the European Commission that are relevant for trade and textile. Emerging Textiles http://www.emergingtextiles.com EmergingTextiles.com publishes statistical reports on textile and clothing trade. The website content is focused on prices of textile, fibres, yarns, fabrics and apparel. Emerging Textiles also deliver in-depth information about tariffs and quotas. Parts of the website can be accessed for free, for example a number of free reports as well as a newsletter. Newsletters are sent every day and/or every week with the latest headlines and links to the reports on the website. Access to full reports is reserved for paying subscribers only, but one report is available for free every week. Fibre2fashion http://www.fibre2fashion.com/ Fibre2fashion is an online portal that provides unlimited access to information and business opportunities exclusively for the garment-textile-fashion industries. Services of Fibre2fashion include trade fair promotion, market watch reports and access to information. Main channels of the website include business offers, business directory, news, jobs, fairs, technical textiles, market intelligence, etc. Global Alliance for Fair Textile Trade (GAFTT) http://www.fairtextiletrade.org The Global Alliance for Fair Textile Trade is an alliance of textile and apparel groups from around the world that are fighting for the principles of fair trade and free markets. These groups have united under the Brussels Communiqu, the successor to the Istanbul Declaration, in order to draw attention to looming take-over of the worlds textile and apparel trade by a few large exporters of who as GAFTT suggests refuse to play fairly. International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) http://www.icac.org/ The International Cotton Advisory Committee works to assist Governments in fostering a healthy world cotton economy. The role of the ICAC is to raise awareness, to provide information and to serve as a catalyst for cooperative action on issues of international significance. ICAC provides statistics on world cotton production, consumption, trade and stocks and to identify emerging changes in the structure of the world cotton market; serves as a clearing house for technical information about cotton and cotton textiles; serve as an objective forum for discussion of cotton matters of international significance; and represent the international cotton industry before UN agencies and other international organizations.

Information compiled by the Trade and Investment Division, UNESCAP www.unescap.org/tid

Last updated October 2007

International Trade Centre (ITC), Textile and Clothing Website http://www.intracen.org/textilesandclothing/ This textile and clothing website of the International Trade Centre offers relevant information to all those who are dealing with international trade in textiles and clothing, i.e. companies, sector associations and Governments. The site covers three major areas, namely business information, data analysis and T&C-specific technical assistance provided by ITC. It highlights ITCs approach to assist developing country clothing manufacturers to overcome their major trade-related needs. ITCs Magazine International Trade Forum, has a designated information portal on Textiles and Clothing that provides further sector-specific information and access to a number of articles and info sources. International Textiles and Clothing Bureau (ITCB) http://www.itcb.org/ The International Textiles and Clothing Bureau (ITCB) is an intergovernmental organisation of developing countries exporters of textiles and clothing. Members are Argentina; Bangladesh; Brazil; China; Colombia; Costa Rica; Egypt; El Salvador; Guatemala; Honduras; Hong Kong, China; India; Indonesia; Democratic People's Republic of Korea; Republic of Korea; Macau, China; Maldives; Pakistan; Paraguay; Peru; Sri Lanka; Thailand; Uruguay and Viet Nam. The website provides information on textiles and clothing issues, including statistics and news. Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) http://otexa.ita.doc.gov/ The website of the Office of Textiles and Apparel of the United States International Trade Administration (ITA) provides information on trade data; details on the United States textile and apparel category system; import quotas/tariff rate quotas for wool and cotton, free trade agreements and trade preference programmes; federal notices and a large selection of other resources, including harmonized tariff schedules, legislation, publications, archives, etc. Textile Exchange Online (TEOnline) http://www.teonline.com TEOnline is a comprehensive online directory resource and search engine for textile and related industry professionals from all over the globe. It caters to textile-specific segment, especially buyers and suppliers to source and share business information on a reliable platform. The resource is essentially meant to conduct transactions conveniently and effectively on the web-based platform. The directory contains a database comprising of more than 5,000 manufacturers, traders, exporters, importers and allied businesses. The portal provides industry professionals with global textile and related news, covering product updates, trade associations, HS Codes, fibre information, textile information, knowledge centre and more. Textile World Asia http://www.textileworldasia.com/ Textile World Asia is a bi-monthly publication that features textile news and information published in English and Simplified Chinese. The website offers a vast collection of textile-related information, including a resource store, buyers guide, news by region as well as information on technology, events, textile jobs, etc. UNDP Regional Centre in Colombo (RCC) http://www.undprcc.lk The UNDP Regional Centre in Colombo serves supports country offices by providing policy advice and backstopping services that are delivered by our regional specialists and technical advisors. The Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Initiative (APTII) aims to promote national efforts that strengthen the competitiveness of countries in the Asia-Pacific region by identifying appropriate trade and investment opportunities. As it is widely noted that the textiles and clothing industry plays a major role in helping developing countries to sustain the growth, APTII launched a few projects to examine the human development impact of the T&C quota elimination. Since 2005, APTII has been releasing Tracking Reports which monitor the T&C trade flows of selected countries in the Asia-Pacific.

Information compiled by the Trade and Investment Division, UNESCAP www.unescap.org/tid

Last updated October 2007

World Trade Organization (WTO), textiles http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/texti_e/texti_e.htm Since 1 January 1995, international textiles and clothing trade has been going through fundamental change under the 10-year transitional programme of the WTO's Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). Before the Agreement took effect, a large portion of textiles and clothing exports from developing countries to the industrial countries was subject to quotas under a special regime outside normal GATT rules. The expiry of the ten-year transition period of ATC implementation means that trade in textile and clothing products is no longer subject to quotas under a special regime outside normal WTO/GATT rules but is now governed by the general rules and disciplines embodied in the multilateral trading system.

2. SELECTED READING
Annual Report on Social Responsibility of China Textile and Apparel Industry. 2006. Available online (PDF-Format, 58 pages, 1.42 MB). China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC). This annual report on social responsibility of the textile and apparel industry in China is composed of five parts: Part 1 introduces basic CSR concepts and its development in China. Part 2 discusses and examines the role of the textile and apparel industry in the national economy and international supply chain, major challenges and issues it faces, as well as the impact of existing relevant rules and regulations on CSR performance of the industry; Part 3 presents the historical background and main features of China Social Compliance for Textile and Apparel Industry (CSC9000T) Principles and Guidelines, and CNTACs communication and collaboration with international stakeholders based on the implementation of this system. Part 4 details CSC9000T pilot programme, analyzes the experiences of the pilot programme and recommendations to various stakeholders for improvement. Part 5 presents the action plan and major areas of focus of CSC9000T in 2007. Accessed pm 23 October < http://www.csc9000.org.cn/PDF/Report_2006_EN.pdf > Clothing and export diversification: still a route to growth for low-income countries? September 2007. Available online (PDF-Format, 35 pages, 832 KB). Policy Research working paper, no. WPS 4343; World Bank. Can the clothing sector be a driver of export diversification and growth for today's low-income countries as it was in the past for countries that have graduated into middle income? This paper assesses this issue taking into account key changes to the market for clothing: the emergence of India and especially China as exporting countries; the rise of global production chains; the removal of quotas from the global trading regime but the continued presence of high tariffs and substantial trade preferences; the increasing importance of large buyers in developed countries and their concerns regarding risk and reputation; and the increasing importance of time in defining sourcing decisions. To assess the importance of the factors shaping the global clothing market, the authors estimate a gravity model to explain jointly the propensity to export clothing and the magnitude of exports from developing countries to the E U and US markets. This analysis identifies the quality of governance as an important determinant of sourcing decisions and that there appears to be a general bias against sourcing apparel from African countries, which is only partially overcome by trade preferences. Accessed on 23 October < http://wwwwds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2007/09/10/000158349_20070910101411/R endered/PDF/wps4343.pdf > Documents from the Regional Dialogue on Restrictive Policies and Measures in the Textile and Clothing Trade. April 2007. Available online (page numbers and file size varies according to downloaded item). Trade and Investment Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). This website features presentations as well as country reports that were discussed at the Dialogue on Restrictive Policies and Measures in the Textile and Clothing Trade. The purpose of the dialogue was to inform policymakers and other stakeholders of trends in textile and clothing trade and application of restrictive measures facilitating better understanding of the sector's trade environment and appropriate policy responses. The reports cover the following countries: Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Accessed on 23 October < http://www.unescap.org/tid/mtg/weaving.asp >

Information compiled by the Trade and Investment Division, UNESCAP www.unescap.org/tid

Last updated October 2007

Export diversification and value addition for human development. Addressing the impact of the Agreement on Textile and Clothing expiration on Cambodia. June 2007. Available online (PDF-Format, 432 pages, 2.95 MB). Economic Institute of Cambodia. This publication discusses the challenges faced by the garment industry after quota phase out and formulates policies and strategies for this particular industry and beyond. Though its significant growth in exports over the last decade, Cambodia has been running the risk by high dependency on few export sectors and trading partners. To avoid that risk, the country must diversify its export profile along with ultimate objective to promote human development, rural income and poverty reduction. To reach this goal, the supported polices have to be designed both at the supply side to enhance sector competitiveness and at the demand side to overcome export market barriers. Effective implementation must be ensured once they are formulated. The first part deals with the impact of the ATC expiration on Cambodia. The second part is about export diversification and value addition, identifying the potential of several non-garment sectors for exports. The third and fourth parts examine appropriate policies to support the identified export sectors. Accessed on 23 October < http://www.eicambodia.org/UNDP/download/UNDP_FullReport.pdf > Garment Exports from Asian LDEs: Can It Be Sustained? July 2007. Available online (PDF-Format, 43 pages, 615 KB). Background Paper, Least Developed Countries Report 2007, UNCTAD. This paper seeks analyze to the sustainability of recent growth in garment manufacturing arising from both the post-MFA preferential agreements as well as domestic initiatives in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic and Myanmar in particular, and Asian least-developed economies (LDEs) in general. It is critical to note that the process of learning and innovation in the garment industry in the LDEs cannot be examined without a strong emphasis on foreign direct investment (FDI). Almost invariably all Asian LDEs have relied extensively on FDI to drive investment, employment and exports in the garment industry. The paper also attempts to examine if these initiatives are rooting sufficiently to provide long term growth. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section two reviews the salient arguments necessary for the evaluation of garment manufacturing in these economies. Section three assesses the contribution of the garment industry to foreign direct investment, exports and employment. Section four examines the depth of technological and logistics capabilities achieved by these economies. Section five finishes with the conclusions and policy implications. Accessed on 23 October < http://www.unctad.org/sections/ldc_dir/docs/ldcr2007_Rasiah_en.pdf > Improving Indonesia's competitiveness: case study of textile and farmed shrimp industries. September 2006. Available online (PDF-Format, 81 pages, 840 KB). Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) (International Finance Corporation and World Bank). The purpose of this report is to identify the salient features which matter most for improving the efficiency and competitiveness of Indonesia's textile and apparel sector and the farmed shrimp sector as a lens for identifying policy options to improve national export performance. The report integrates various views and discussions in separate industry-specific reports one the farmed shrimp sector, the textile and apparel sector, and on trade facilitation. Interviews were conducted with companies all through the supply chain of the textile and apparel sector - including fiber producers and yarn spinners to manufacturers of fabrics and ready made garments, as well as representatives of the Government, industry associations, retailers and the banking sector. Visits were also made to a number of production facilities. Consultative meetings were held in Jakarta at the end of the visit to share information with stakeholders and seek feedback on the initial findings. The same activities were carried out to examine issues related to the shrimp industry. For the trade facilitation aspects, meetings were held with freight forwarders, representatives from the customs and port authority, and other relevant members of the private sector. The findings in this report were discussed and validated in July 2006 with industry stakeholders in two consultative workshops, the Ministry of Trade, and other concerned ministries and government agencies. Accessed on 23 October < http://wwwwds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2007/09/10/000020439_20070910140236/R endered/PDF/407880IND0Text1eness1Study01PUBLIC1.pdf > Textiles & Clothing Sector in South Asia: Coping with Post-quota Challenges. Chapter 4 of the South Asian Yearbook of Trade and Development 2006. March 2007. Available online (PDF-Format, 37 pages, 377 KB). Centre for Trade and Development (CENTAD). The objective of this publication is to discuss the scenario emerging in the global textile and clothing trade, and the position of the South Asian countries vis-a-vis other global players. It also seeks to analyze challenges confronting South Asian textile and clothing exporters as well as initiatives taken so far by the South Asian Governments to support the sector. Finally, it proposes some recommendations for strategies to be adopted by these countries in a relatively freer world of trade in textiles and clothing.

Information compiled by the Trade and Investment Division, UNESCAP www.unescap.org/tid

Last updated October 2007

Accessed on 24 October http://www.undprcc.lk/Publications/TRADE/Centad_Yearbook_T_and_C_Chapter_RA_CW.pdf >

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Trade and investment agreements. February 2004. Available online (HTM-file). Somo Bulletin on issues in garments and textiles, number 4. Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations. This bulletin seeks to examine the influence of regional, bilateral, and preferential trade and investment agreements on the garment and textile industries worldwide. Researchers and industry analysts suggest that investment in the garment and textile industries following the phase-out of the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA)in 2005 will be influenced by an interplay between investment agreements, buyers demands, and trade agreements (regional, bilateral, and preferential). It specifically address how such agreements influence both the sourcing and buying decisions of brand name and retail companies and investment in manufacturing units (factories). Their impact on workers wages and conditions and the response of labour activists is also explored. It also covers the relationship of trade and investment agreements to the MFA and a brief overview of the situation for agreements in the garment industry following the WTO talks in Cancun. It concludes with a summary of issues to be considered by activists in relation to these agreements. Accessed on 23 October 2007 < \http://www.cleanclothes.org/publications/04-02-somo.htm > Weaving a New World: Realizing Development Gains in a Post-ATC Trading System. 2005. Available online (PDF-FOrmat, 52 pages, 445 KB). UNCTAD. The discriminatory trading system that restricted textiles and clothing exports from developing countries for over 40 years finally came to an end. Both developed and developing countries stand to gain substantially from the removal of quota restrictions and the full integration of textiles and clothing into normal WTO rules. While many quantitative studies were undertaken to examine the impact of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothes termination, post-ATC analysis cannot be reduced to a single calculation of who will win or lose. There are economic, political and geographical factors which would affect trade in textiles and clothing in the post-ATC trading environment. This paper attempts to highlight these factors and to argue that the success of an exporter of textiles and clothing in the post-ATC phase depends on how it will take advantage of the opportunities, and overcome the challenges, that ATC expiration brings about. The first section discusses the historical perspective of trade in textiles and clothing and the recent new developments. This is followed by a review of the textiles and clothing trade patterns under the MFA and an ATC, and the analysis of the factors influencing post-ATC effects. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for ensuring and maximizing development gains in the postATC trading environment. Accessed on 23 October < http://www.unctad.org/en/docs//ditctncd20053_en.pdf > ************************* Information is taken mainly from secondary sources and UNESCAP accepts no responsibility for its accuracy. Mention of any companies and their products does not imply endorsement by the United Nations. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. 2007 United Nations

Information compiled by the Trade and Investment Division, UNESCAP www.unescap.org/tid