Ahead of its meeting in Geneva, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has published a report providing an encompassing overview of the world of textile and apparel.
Entitled "Promoting fair globalization in textiles and clothing in a post-MFA environment", the report gives a critical insight into how previous worries of China drastically increasing its world share in textile and apparel trade following the end of quotas have not come about.
Furthermore, Asian countries expected to suffer as a result of Chinese dominance have, to some extent, managed to resist.
With the end of all world quotas on textile and apparel trade taking effect this year, the forecast meant good news for China.
The ILO report said the reasoning behind this confidence was simply down to such countries as China, Pakistan and India having been the biggest losers under quotas, would therefore be able to exploit a quota-free period of trade.
China's share in world textile market shares has increased but not as considerably as previously expected. There are two points cited in the report that explain why:
1) Despite the end of quotas, China's WTO accession ruling gives rights to WTO member countries to apply safeguard measures limiting import growth from China in a given category of up to 7.5% until the end of 2008.
2) Internally, China is in the process of moving towards higher value-added industries and away from labour-intensive manufacturing industries, such as textile and apparel which is declining.
The effects of both these two points is taking a very real impact on Chinese textile and apparel exports where the United States, short of doing a deal with China, has already wielded the safeguard axe several times this year.
The European Union has also negotiated restrictions on several sensitive categories with China.
The report however states due to quota phase-out, employment in the industry is expected to grow 12 per cent in textiles and 30 per cent in apparel.
China's gains may also be likely to a rerouting of exports that previously went through Hong Kong and Taiwan which have both experienced a decline in export values since quotas ended this year.
"The rise of China is therefore somewhat smaller than it would appear from a first reading of the date, but it is still quite dramatic," the report says.
The report's authors are also encouraged that certain important exporting countries have either managed to increase shipments or simply to keep their head above water.
One of these countries, Bangladesh, is particularly sensitive to any seismic shifts in world apparel and textile trade.
The country is reliant on this sector which accounts for a huge 76 per cent of the country's annual $6 billion export revenue and accounts for 2 million workers, 80 per cent of whom are women.
Pre-2005 studies predicted a near-catastrophe would occur in the sector resulting in its collapse and consequent mass job losses.
Some factories are actually in the process of expanding with the report citing EU and US importers are keen to keep Bangladesh high on their list of suppliers.
The country has also responded well to the post-quota area in strategy development as well as alliances with China, for example, concluded in May this year.
Cambodia has also managed to perform well in this sector of critical importance to the country's economy, accounting for more than 80 per cent of its exports.
"Thanks largely to its original "Better Factories in Cambodia Project"...much of Cambodia's garment industry has successfully survived the end of the global quota system," the report says.
The project was set up by the ILO aiming to improve working conditions where over 85 per cent are women.
Under the scheme, Cambodia was given preferential trade treatment with the US if it could show improvement in factory working conditions.
The ILO has praised the country for seeking to improve its performance whilst utilising decent working conditions with more factories scheduled to commence production than had previously closed.
India, along with China, was expected to reap the rewards of the post-quota world but, instead, a more complicated picture has arisen.
On the one hand, Indian textile exports have been increasing in comparison to last year's figures whereas ready-made garment exports have been falling.
The Indian delegation to the 24 October ILO meeting plans to raise labour-related issues such as allowing women to work night shifts.
Telling reporters in India, the joint secretary of the textile ministry, Sudripta Roy, said this would be in response to the demands for flexible labour laws from the textile industry.
This appears to be a change in tactics for a country that has previously sought to protect itself against encroaching trade globalisation.
