XN000022-1980-05-29 — Page 5

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THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1980

MISS DUNN WENT ON TO SAY THAT A RELATED CONCEPT, KNOWN AS 'GLOBALIZATION' HAS ALSO EMERGED. +DEVELOPED IMPORTING COUNTRIES DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES WHAT EACH CONSIDERS TO BE ITS MAXIMUM TOLERABLE INTAKE OF TEXTILE IMPORTS FROM WHAT THEY DESCRIBE AS LOW-COST COUNTRIES WHICH, IN PRACTICE, MEANS DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. SO, WITHOUT LIMITING IMPORTS FROM DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, AN IMPORTING COUNTRY DETERMINES, ARBITRARILY, WHAT QUANTITIES DEVELOPING COUNTRY SUPPLIERS COLLECTIVELY MAY EXPORT TO IT. BY MEANS OF BILATERAL AGREEMENTS OR UNILATERAL RESTRAINTS UNDER, OR MORE APPROPRIATELY IN DEFIANCE OF, THE MFA.

+SO THIS CONCEPT OF GLOBALIZATION DOES NOT COVER THE WHOLE GLOBE. IMPORTING COUNTRIES ONLY WANT TO CATCH THAT PART OF THE GLOBE WHICH THEY DECIDE SHOULD FALL WITHIN THE SCOPE OF RESTRAINT, SHE SAID.

+ THE CONSEQUENCE OF APPLYING A GLOBAL QUOTA APPROACH TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ONLY ALLOWED GROWTH OF IMPORTS FROM UNRESTRAINED DEVELOPED COUNTRY SOURCES,+ SAID MISS DUNN.

+ THE BULK OF THE INCREASE, AND THEREFORE THE CAUSE OF MARKET DISRUPTION, DID NOT COME FROM US. IT CAME FROM THE DEVELOPED, BUT UNRESTRICTED SUPPLIERS. SO THE APPROACH DOES NOT MAKE SENSE. IT IS MANIFESTLY UNFAIR.

+THE REPORT FROM WHICH I EXTRACTED THESE FIGURES WAS PREPARED BY THE BRITISH TEXTILE CONFEDERATION, AND THE WRITER WENT ON TO ADMIT THAT, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE BULK - 58 PER CENT OF THE INCREASE CAME FROM DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, GOVERNMENTS ARE NEVERTHELESS RESTRICTED IN THE ACTION THEY CAN TAKE TO RESTRAIN IMPORTS FROM THESE COUNTRIES, SHE SAID.

+BUT THE CONCEPT OF GLOBALISATION IS ALSO POLITICALLY DEFICIENT. NO ROOM IS LEFT FOR NEW ENTRANTS TO THE MARKET FROM THE DEVELOPING WORLD. IN AN ATTEMPT TO OVERCOME THIS POLITICALLY EMBARRASSING SITUATION, THE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES HAVE BLANDLY COME TO THE VIEW THAT, SINCE THE SHARE OF ITS IMPORT MARKET HELD BY THE DEVELOPING WORLD IS FIXED AT THE WHIM OF THE IMPORTING COUNTRY CONCERNED, THE MAJOR DEVELOPING COUNTRY SUPPLIERS MUST HAVE THEIR ACCESS RIGHTS REDUCED TO MAKE ROOM FOR NEW AND SMALL SUPPLIERS.+

MISS DUNN QUOTED FROM THE BTC REPORT 'THE (GLOBAL) CEILING MUST MAKE A GENEROUS ALLOWANCE FOR ACCESS TO THE EEC MARKET BY THE POORER COUNTRIES. IT FOLLOWS THAT THESE ADVANCED (DEVELOPING) COUNTRIES MUST ACCEPT REDUCTIONS IN THEIR SHARE OF THE CEILINGS.

SHE CONDEMNED THIS PROPOSAL, SAYING BUT THIS SOLUTION, WHICH IS CHARITY TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES BY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, IS AT BEST ILL-CONCEIVED AND, AT WORST, IT IS A DEVICE WHEREBY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES HOPE TO SALVE THE IR COLLECTIVE CONSCIENCE BY GIVING CHARITY AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHER DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.+

MISS DUNN ASKED WHY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES WHICH ARE RELATIVELY SMALL EXPORTERS OF TEXTILE PRODUCTS SHOULD BE RESTRAINED IN THE FIRST PLACE.

/+SURELY THEIR

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