Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Administration of Involuntary Textile Quotas Measures

Issued: December 20 2001
Effective: January 1 2002
Interpreting authority: Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC)
Applicability: "Involuntary textile quotas" (hereafter textile quotas) refers to the quantitative restrictions imposed by certain countries, including the USA, Canada, the European Union and Turkey (defined in the Measures as the Restricting Countries), on the import of cotton, wool, chemical fibre, silk, flax and other vegetable fabric products (Article 2).

Main contents: The Measures state that MOFTEC is the State organ for the administration of textile quotas, responsible for negotiating, concluding and executing multilateral trade rules with the Restricting Countries and for distributing textile quotas (Article 3). Textile quotas shall be distributed through invitations for bids, application or performance-based allocation (Article 5). Invitations for bids shall be conducted in accordance with Invitations to Bid for Export Commodity Quotas Measures and Invitations to Bid for Involuntary Textile Quotas Implementing Rules (Article 12). Applications for textile quotas shall be accommodated on the basis of the success rate of the applicants in obtaining import licences and import customs clearance; applicants whose success rate is below 40% are allowed to apply for a share in a capped pool of quotas only, whereas applicants whose success rate is 90% or higher may request additional quotas directly from MOFTEC (Articles 13 and 16). Performance-based allocation shall be based separately on the export to the Restricting Countries and the export to other countries (Article 19). The Measures also set out provisions for the administration of EU Industrialist Quotas and European Exposition Quotas (Parts Six and Seven).
Related legislation:PRC, Foreign Trade Law (Revised), Apr 6 2004, CLP 2004 No.4 p34; PRC, Administration of Import and Export of Commodities Regulations and World Trade Organization, Agreement on Textiles and Clothing
Repealed legislation: Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Administration of Export Quotas for Textiles Measures, Dec 31 1992; Questions Relevant to the Adoption of Total Quantity Controlled Discretionary Application for Licences for Involuntary Quotas of Non-Highly-Demanded Textile Products Circular, 1992; Matters Relevant to Strengthening the Administration of Involuntary Textile Quotas Licensed under Total Quantity Controlled Discretionary Applications Circular, 1999; Administration of Export Quotas for European Union Industrialists Measures (Trial Implementation), 1999; Supplementary Provisions for Circular, 2000; Several Matters for Encouraging Enterprises to Make Good Utilization of Involuntary Textile Quotas Circular, 1999 and Matters Relevant to the Utilization by Foreign Investment Enterprises of Involuntary Textile Quotas Licensed under Total Quantity Controlled Discretionary Applications Circular, 1999