Time to check those textile quotas

WITH THE year-end approaching, importers of clothing and textile goods from China should check that their 2007 quota is fully-used before December 31. According to Brian Brink, executive director of the Textile Federation, any remaining balance of the quotas on special import permits for 2007 must be shipped in and customs cleared before that deadline date – or it will be lost. “The quotas on these permits were issued at the beginning of this year for the two years 2007 and 2008,” he told FTW. “But any remaining balance on the 2007 quota can’t be carried over to the following year.” Not that Brink sees this as a major problem. “There are unlikely to be many who have not already used up their quotas,” he said, “with most of the Christmas goods already on the shelves, or certainly well on their way there.” And anyone still looking for a special import quota for Chinese origin clothing and textiles in 2008 is out of luck. “The 2007 and 2008 quotas were both issued at the beginning of this year,” Brink said. “And, although 2008 import quotas are often higher – depending on which category they fit – no additional round of allocations will be made for next year.”