WTO agrees to look at adjustment costs when quotas are gone

Smaller garment-dependent countries got a break this week with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreeing to look at ‘adjustment issues’ when quotas are gone.





Smaller garment-dependent countries got a break this week with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreeing to look at ‘adjustment issues’ when quotas are gone. The WTO’s Goods and Services Council agreed this week to “hold open-ended informal consultations in an expeditious manner” on the matter of adjustment costs of quota removal, said a press release from the WTO on Friday.

Although many smaller economies have been agitating for postponements of quotas, the WTO gave no indication of letting up on the original phase out plan.

But a proposal to look at adjustment issues made by Mauritius and co-sponsored by Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Madagascar, and Uganda got a more favorable reaction.

The six countries proposed that the WTO carry out a study to identify adjustment-related issues and costs that may arise with the phase-out of the ATC.

They called on the WTO to also recommend measures to address such issues.

The Dominican Republic pointed out that the back-