COTTON TEXTILES
LONG TERM ARRANGEMENT
ANNEX 1
In 1961 the U.S. Administration were under pressure from their
domestic industry to take action against increasing competition from low-
cost cotton textiles.
There was, of course, no way under the G.A.T.T.
for the U.S. to take discriminatory action, and in order to avoid pressure
from Congress to act inconsistently with their G.A.T.T. obligations, the
U.S. Administration took the initiative in calling a meeting between the
major importing countries and the low-oost exporting countries to deal
with the problem on a comprehensive international basis.
2. As a result, an agreement, was reached, to run for a period of 12
months, which provided for the control of cotton textile imports that
were causing (or threatening) market disruption, and also for some
increase in the quotas of those participating countries which still
maintained them. This agreement was intended as a holding operation
only, pending the conclusion of an agreement covering a longer period.
The G.A.T.T. Cotton Textiles Committee was set up both to administer the
short term arrangement and to draw up the text of the long term
arrangement.
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3. ́In October 1962 the Long Term Arrangement on Cotton Textiles came
into operation, for an initial period of five years. It was subsequently
extended to 30th September 1970. Its chief objectives (which were much
the same as its short term predecessor) were:
2.
(a) to strike a balance between the need of developing countries
for growing export markets.
(Article 2 of the Arrangement provided that countries maintaining
restrictions inconsistent with the G.A.T.T. should relax them
progressively each year and undertake to increase quotas by
stated percentages by the end of the validity of the Arrangement.)
/(b) To