The EU has introduced measures to deal with the cancellation of textile quotas

For the EU textile and garment industry, it is currently facing the most difficult day in history: the EU is about to expand eastward in 2004, and many of the new member states have the textile and garment industry as the pillar industry; 2005 The annual textile import quota is about to be cancelled. Facing the low labor force of developing countries, many small and medium-sized textile and garment enterprises in the EU have lost their competitiveness. Once the quota restrictions are lost again, a large number of low-cost and high-quality textile and clothing products flood into the EU market. Is there any way out for EU textile and clothing enterprises? For this reason, the EU textile and apparel industry, especially the French textile and apparel industry, is very worried. They hold meetings every day to discuss research and development prospects and countermeasures. At the expense of his own textile and apparel industry.

After all, the EU's textile and apparel industry has 2 million direct employees, and will reach 2.5 million after its eastward expansion. The industry's turnover is 200 billion euros, making it the world's largest textile exporter and the second largest apparel exporter (second only to China). ) region, plus the EU textile and apparel industry still has its own comparative advantages, such as leading fashion trends, high product quality, production capacity of small batch series products, fast delivery, strong ability to adapt to market demand, etc., the EU will never Will sit back and watch this important industry collapse. In order to help the industry through the upcoming difficulties, the European Commission announced a series of policy measures to rescue its textile and garment industry in Brussels on October 28.

These policy measures are mainly divided into two aspects: trade policy and industrial policy. Trade policies include: 1. To enter the market of third world countries: This is the basic protection policy of "open to open" that has been used in the Doha round of WTO negotiations. Require third-world countries to substantially reduce customs duties that currently protect markets by 30 to 40 percent and remove non-tariff barriers. 2. The establishment of a free circulation area for textiles in the EU Mediterranean countries (paneuroméditerranéenne): to accelerate the establishment of this area, that is, the 15 EU countries and the 12 Mediterranean countries (Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Malta, Cyprus, Israel , the Palestinian Authority) economic integration. Strive to realize the free circulation of textile and clothing products in the region before 2005, that is, textile and clothing manufacturers in 27 countries in the region apply the same rules of origin, and textile and clothing products in the region can be freely transshipped and processed without customs duties. In July this year, 27 countries in the region have reached a protocol in Palermo, and the European Commission is responsible for reviewing all the specific and feasible implementation methods of the agreement countries. 3. The GSP is concentrated on the least developed countries: the least developed countries refer to those countries that are the least developed and most reliant on textile exports, such as Bangladesh, Laos, Macau, Cambodia, Pakistan and so on. 4. Sustainable production: The production methods of textile and apparel products are upgraded to meet environmental protection standards and social protection standards, and an environmental protection label and an international labor label that clearly guarantee compliance with the standards are used.

Industrial policies include: 1. Enable the "made in Europe" product label: Establish a commercial origin label for textile and apparel products produced in Europe. 2. State funding: In some important areas, such as product research and development, employment and training of employees, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, environmental protection, assistance and adjustment of enterprises in difficulty, the state will provide financial subsidies. 3. Regional policies: For regions that rely heavily on the textile industry, some EU industrial structure funds will be used to help them overcome the crisis, such as technical assistance when enterprises adjust, and employees re-adapting to the job market. Mainly by building an online communication platform, it helps to adjust and establish a new regional enterprise network. 4. Fight against infringement and counterfeiting: In some third world countries where intellectual property rights are not respected, some supplementary measures are formulated to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights. Provide information on the rights and possible ways of seeking help for small and medium-sized textile and garment enterprises. 5. Encourage innovation: fill in the communication gaps in innovation activities for small and medium-sized textile and garment enterprises, textile and garment colleges and technology centers. In addition to the existing EU-funded innovation projects, creating a non-technical innovation project, such as the Fashion Enterprises Demonstration, makes it easier for fashion innovators to obtain EU funding than now. 6. Emphasis on scientific research: Joint research centers, industrial departments and related institutions continue to carry out the measures of combining the original scientific research plans of the EU with enterprises, and pay special attention to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. 7. Develop information exchange technology: strengthen information exchange activities, especially to provide timely information on scientific research results for small and medium-sized enterprises. 8. Professional and technical training: Provide the best information and convenient conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in the European Union's Da Vinci (2000-2006) professional and technical training program. 9. Employment: Coordinate the relationship between education, various job skills and the job market, with the goal of making new manufacturing processes continue to improve the quality of employed people without reducing the number of employed people. 10. Environmental protection: Continue to be included in the EU's scientific research plan, and make the research results of environmental protection in the textile and leather industries play a more effective role by strengthening information exchange.

These policy measures of the European Union, although there are discussions that they were introduced a little late, are still welcomed by the French textile and apparel industry. It is expected that these measures will have a certain impact on the entry of my country's textile and apparel products into the EU market. They are unlimited and worthy of attention by Chinese enterprises.