XN000022-1976-09-22 — Page 6

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1976

TEXTILE QUOTA UTILISATION POSITION

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THE COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT TODAY PUBLISHED THE END OF AUGUST 1976 FIGURES ON THE UTILISATION OF QUOTAS IN RESPECT OF ALL RESTRAINED MARKETS.

COMMENTING ON THE FIGURES, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT SAID THAT WHILST THE RATE OF UTILISATION WAS HIGH IN A NUMBER OF CATEGORIES TO CERTAIN MARKETS, THE FLEXIBILITY PROVISIONS IN THE AGREEMENTS COULD ENABLE HONG KONG TO EXPORT UP TO CERTAIN SPECIFIED PERCENTAGES OVER AND ABOVE THE RESTRAINT LIMITS.

HE ALSO POINTED OUT THAT FREE QUOTAS FOR CERTAIN CATEGORIES AND MARKETS WERE STILL AVAILABLE FOR APPLICATION AND INTERESTED PARTIES SHOULD GET IN TOUCH WITH THE DEPARTMENT FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

FOLLOWING IS A BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE QUOTA POSITION OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE EEC, HONG KONG'S TWO MAJOR TEXTILE MARKETS.

USA

THE CURRENT 12-MONTH US TEXTILE RESTRAINT PERIOD BEGAN ON OCTOBER 1, 1975. IN THE 11 MONTHS ENDING AUGUST 1976, TOTAL QUOTAS USED AMOUNTED TO 717 MILLION EQUIVALENT SQUARE YARDS OR 81 PER CENT OF THE OVERALL ANNUAL LIMIT. FIGURES SHOWING THE QUANTITIES LICENSED FOR EXPORTS AND PERCENTAGE UTILISATION ON A GROUP BASIS ARE SET OUT BELOW :-

QUANTITY LICENSED

PERCENTAGE UTILISATION AGAINST GROUP LIMITS

DESCRIPTION

GROUP

! YARNS AND FABRICS

OF COTTON AND MAN- MADE FIBRES

182

75 PER CENT

GROUP ||

APPAREL OF COTTON AND MAN-MADE FIERES

477.8

87 PER CENT

GROUP

MADE-UPS AND MISCEL-

30.5

56 PER CENT

LANEOUS ARTICLES OF COTTON AND MAN-MADE FIBRES

GROUP

JV

WOOL TEXTILE AND

26.7

64 PER CENT

APPAREL

NOTE:

FIGURES ON QUANTITY LICENSED ARE IN MILLION EQUIVALENT SQ. YDS.

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