§ 31. Mr. John Cunninghamasked the Minister for Trade if he will outline the main outstanding issues in the negotiations on the multi-fibre arrangement in the trading of textiles and clothing.
§ 45. Mr. Tom Clarkeasked the Minister for Trade if he will make a statement on the current state of negotiations on the multi-fibre arrangement in trade in textiles and clothing.
§ Mr. Peter Rees: Eighteen supplying countries have initialled new bilateral agreements with the Community on terms which are consistent with the Commission's negotiating mandate. Most of the nine remaining countries who have not yet concluded bilateral agreements are opposed to the provisions for unilateral action in the Community's proposals for the basket extractor mechanism for introducing new quotas and the procedures for dealing with fraud, and to the anti-surge mechanism. In addition the ASEAN countries who have not concluded have objected to the procedure for breaking down 21W Community quotas amongst the member States; and the three dominant suppliers (Hong Kong, South Korea and Macao) are opposed to the Community's proposed cut-backs in the quotas for the five most sensitive clothing categories in group 1.