The Uruguay Round's 1995 Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) mandated the phaseout of import quotas sanctioned for decades under agreements like the 1974 Multifiber Arrangement (MFA). Having access to bilateral trade data across the various products within the fiber-textile sector lays the foundation for better understanding of trade patterns and can underpin analyses of potential changes as the policy environment evolves. This database provides information about source-destination trade flows among 42 exporting and importing country/regions on 43 fiber, textile, and clothing product aggregates on an annual basis from 1992 to 2002.
Features
The World Bids Farewell to the Multifiber Arrangement (MFA) (February 2006) describes the genesis and consequences of the MFA and the impacts of its removal. China, India, and Pakistan are the cotton-textile-exporting countries expected to benefit most from the MFA's demise. However, global cotton use is largely being driven by other factors, such as income growth. For the full report, see
The Forces Shaping World Cotton Consumption After the Multifiber Arrangement
(April 2005).
The September 2004 Amber Waves data feature, The Changing World Network of Trade in Textiles and Apparel, highlights recent changes in the nature of textile and clothing trade and draws implications about the impact of complete MFA quota removal.
Note: This data product is no longer being updated.