Members tell EU to toughen stance against Chinese sweater imports

29 Jul '05

2 min read

European countries have been bearing the onslaught of unrestricted entry of Chinese sweaters, which has forced the EU to stiffen its stand of placing likely import restrictions on China-made sweaters shipped after July 12, 2005.

Informing this EU spokeswoman Claude Veron-Reville said member states were not willing to allow even those shipments of pullovers that were in transit. Earlier, the European Commission had decided to allow all goods shipped from China prior to July 12 could enter the EU market. The EU, said the spokeswoman, was finding ways for seeking newer imports, adding that they would be within the ambit of the import ceilings agreed earlier on, with China. Import of 69 million sweaters and cardigans were allowed to the EU from June 11 till the end of 2005. For next year, the EU has permitted quota to go up from this year's 181.5 million units to 200 million. At present, 10 categories of Chinese textile products, including bed linen, pullovers and T-shirts are being monitored for future restrictions, as they are found to harm local industries of the member countries. France, Italy, Spain and Portugal have called for stringent action against China and have been lobbying for EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson take action.

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