November 11, 2001	Sunday	Shaba’an 24, 1422

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DOHA, Nov 10: Portugal and Spain on Saturday again objected to recent European Commission plans to increase textile and clothing imports from Pakistan.

Both countries told reporters they were worried that the proposals by European Union trade chief Pascal Lamy would create a precedent for other Asian nations including India and hurt their domestic textile interests.

“This is a very sensitive question for Portugal,” Portuguese Minister for Trade Luis Braga Da Cruz told journalists at a World Trade Organization meeting in Doha.

Lisbon was already working hard to make its textile industry more competitive to cope with the abolition of quotas on textiles and garments foreseen as part of the WTO, Braga said.

Textile and garment concessions being planned by EU trade chief Pascal Lamy for Pakistan in a “trade for peace” package meant that Portugal would have to anticipate such liberalization, he warned.

Portugal would not allow that this served as a precedent and an excuse for a general and early liberalization of textile trade, Braga said.

Spain’s Trade Minister Rodrigo Rato recognized that Pakistan’s role as a frontline state in the US war against terrorism justified special trade measures. But this must not lead to similar concessions for other countries, Rato said.

“It is clear that Portugal’s anxieties go beyond Pakistan,” said an EU diplomat. “There is concern that India and others will demand similar moves,” he said.

But support for the Pakistan package has come from other countries, including Sweden.