The United States (US) has indicated to abolish textile quotas from January next and terminate visa arrangements for textile and apparel trade with Pakistan.
It, however, suggested that the visa offices would be maintained for the first six months of 2005 to handle shipments in transit.
This was announced by the US government in a communication to the Pakistan Embassy in Washington.
It referred to the bilateral textile and apparel visa arrangements that currently applied to the exports of textile and apparel goods to the US, and said that in accordance with the termination clause contained in our visa arrangement, "the US hereby informs your country of our intention to terminate in whole the visa arrangement effective January 1, 2005.
"Consequently, the US will not require a visa, exempt certification, guaranteed access level (GAL) certification, or electronic visa (Elvis) transmission for textile and apparel products exported after that date," said the communication.
The US government, however, informed the Pakistan Embassy that for all shipments exported in 2004, regardless of the date of entry into the US, it would continue to require a properly completed visa, including all required information.
Since there would likely be shipments in transit and for other continuing issues, the US recommended that the host country would continue to issue visas, exempt and GAL certifications or Elvis transmission through December 31 and would maintain offices to appropriately handle these issues through the first six months of 2005.
The US government also referred to other agreements and related administrative arrangements, governing the textile and apparel trade between the US and Pakistan, particularly the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement on textiles and clothing (ATC).
Under the ATC, all textile and apparel products must be integrated into the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT) on January 1, 2005, said the communication.
It said the US would not, therefore, limit the imports of textile and apparel products under the ATC after this date.
However, consistent with the ATC and other textile agreements, the US administered annual quota limits on the basis of date of export, not date of entry, so all shipments exported in 2004, even those entering the US in 2005, were subject to 2004 quota limits, it added.
The US government further said that the shipments exported in 2004 in excess of agreed limits violated the terms of ATC and other textile agreements, and the US was prepared to deny entry or to stage entry in 2005 to textile and apparel products exported in excess of 2004 annual quota limits, if the circumstances warranted it.
"The US government would greatly appreciate if Pakistan can ensure that the 2004 exports are consistent with the ATC and other textile agreements," the communication said.