Textile exports to quota countries to fall 20%

JAKARTA (JP): Exports of textile and textile-related products to countries which impose import quotas may drop by 20 percent this year because part of this year's quotas were used last year, a senior trade official said.

The director of exports for manufactured and mining products, Sudar S.A., said the practice of "borrowing quotas" consumed about 20 percent of the quotas allocated for this year.

Certain countries, including the United States, members of the European Union, Norway and Canada, allow exporters to use quotas allocated for the coming year if quotas for the current year have already been filled, Antara reported.

The ministry's data shows that textile and textile-related exports in the January to August period of 1998 to countries which impose quotas rose by 17 percent to US$2.75 billion.

In the same period in 1998, exports to nonquota countries fell by 0.8 percent.

Textile exports to Norway surged by 66.08 percent, while textile exports to Canada rose by 29.4 percent. Textile exports to the United States grew by 22.60 percent and textile exports to the European Union saw an 11.97 percent increase.

Textile exports to other countries which impose quotas, however, dropped drastically. Exports to Yemen plunged by 94.11 percent, to Qatar by 70.26 percent, to Brunei Darussalam by 59.89 percent, to Thailand by 26.63 percent and to Japan by 23.45 percent. (das)