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under Article 11 of the Arrangement had prepared and submitted an exhaustive report (COM/TEX/B/196) on the various issues that had come up before the Body and on the working of the Arrangement itself. In addition, detailed statistics had been provided (COM/TEX/W/35) and Adds.) on world production and of trade in textiles and clothing, giving a detailed analysis of current trends. In regard to the scope of current discussions in the Textiles Committee, Mr. Salib drew the attention of the participants to the report prepared by the GATT Secretariat on the November/December 1976 meeting of the Textiles Committee (COM/TEX/8) which brought out the points of view of developed and developing countries, both in the course of the major review required under Article 10 of the Arrangement and in the context of a consideration of the future of the Arrangement, after its expiry at the end of December 1977.
13. In view of the profusion of material thus presented, Mr. Salib confined himself in his own elaboration to the working of the Arrangement from the point of view of developed and developing countries. He said that while developing countries were dissatisfied with its working for the reasons referred to earlier, developed countries had also expressed reservations about the way the provisions in that Arrangement in regard to growth rates, base/reference periods, the working of the Textiles Surveillance Body etc., had operated. The EEC, Canada and even Australia had made proposals in the direction of changes which developing countries regarded as moving counter to the objectives of liberalization of trade. Some countries had felt that the MFA had presented a solution to many of the thorny problems in the field of textiles trade; others felt that the implementation of the Arrangement had been unsatisfactory. By and large, however, there was a general feeling that the Arrangement had provided a practical international framework, and at the time of this Seminar, the feeling among most members of the Arrangement seemed to be that it should be extended.
14. In referring to the work of the Textiles Surveillance Body, Mr. Salib said that its composition as well as working had been assailed in various directions; however, it had on the whole enabled developing countries to seek protection from unjustified restrictions by developed countries. Indeed, in spite of the fact that world-wide recession had affected the smooth working of the Arrangement as a whole, the deliberations of the TSB itself seemed to have withstood the strains satisfactorily. The members of that body had been chosen for their expertise and knowledge, for function- ing in their individual capacity and not as representatives of the Governments which designated them. Much could be said in favour of retaining its compactness and expertise as against wider representation. Above all, the Body's deliberations served to bring under international scrutiny the actions of individual countries proposing restrictive measures, and this certainly could have an effect on the way the Arrangement worked.
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