which would already be on the water, and for which payment would
already have been made by the importer. If a very limited number of
licences were to be made available for the balance of the year,
problems would arise in allocating them amongst the various importers
with outstanding contracts.
(3) A global quota for 1972
32. This is a development of the monitoring system, but giving a better
control over the total quantity imported from the developing countries.
Specific licensing for these countries' cotton textiles which was to
have been discontinued next spring would instead be continued for the
rest of next year.
It would be announced that the total number of
licences to be issued would be equivalent to, but no more than, the
sum of the Indian, Hong Kong and global quota countries' quotas for
1971. The 1972 ceiling would be broken down into (a) yarn and
greycloth combined, (b) finished cloth and (c) made-ups, but not
categorised in detail like the 1971 quotas. This system would permit
freer competition between the supplying countries than has been
possible under the present quota controls; with the disappearance of
the categorisation provisions, the developing countries would tend to
concentrate on the types of textiles they could produce most efficiently, which in turn would compel Lancashire (as the Textile Council's report
envisaged) to concentrate on those products in which its relative
competitiveness was greatest. However, as under the monitoring system,
a watch would be kept over the pattern of imports, and if necessary
action taken to restrict particular products within the overall
ceiling, if an important sector of the domestic industry was at risk
through disruptive imports.
{
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