§ Mr. HaynesTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will ensure that any changes in multi-fibre arrangement quotas within the member states, consequent upon the fulfilment of the single European market, post 1992, will not add further to import penetration of textiles, knitted and clothing products in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. RedwoodThe present extension of the multi-fibre arrangement expires in 1991. Its future is a matter for negotiation in the current Uruguay round of multilateral trade negotiatons.
It is the Commission's general view that the maintenance of indiviudal member state quotas will be inconsistent with the completion of the single market after 1992. How far this might extend to the treatment of textiles and clothing and, in that event, the likely implications for trade flows have yet to be discussed. Current arrangements in the Community's bilateral textile agreements already provide however for automatic transfer or quotas between member states up to a certain percentage which increases annually.