RECATEGORISING BED LINEN ARRIVALS.
While the trade has been told to await the outcome of the productivity and efficiency study before learning the future Government policy on arrivals of foreign goods the role of the Imports Commission has been somewhat overshadowed. There were many people who considered that at the time of its formation the Commission was merely a stop-gap introduced by the Government to
ward off further criticism for the time being. Now, howevmry, it des been disclosed that the Board of Trade has negotiated new agree- ments instigated by the Imports Commission. These have the effect of limiting the future volume of imports of wide sheeting and made- up sheets from Hong Kong and India. Gaps in the pattern of categorisation affecting these items have now been filled; addition lower quotas have been introduced for all loom-state fabric used in the bed linen trade.
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The approximate new quotas for India amount to 16.3 million yards, which is slightly below the level of actual 1967 imports and compares with the estimated arrivals of 27.7 million yards during the current year. For Hong Kong the new quotas are sub- stantially lower than recent shipments, being 18.5 million yards against 24.3 million yards imported last year and estimated arrivals of 30 million yards this year.
According to the Textile Council the new and lower quotas for sheeting items, however, will not reduce the Hong Kong and Indian quotas as a whole. The amounts by which these have been cut will in general be added to other categories within the same broad group heading. One important exception is that quotas for drills, jeans and gabardines have not been increased in either the Indian or Hong Kong agreements.