HANOI, Dec. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Canada has recently agreed to phase out its export quotas imposed on Vietnamese garments and textiles, the American Department under Vietnam's Ministry of Trade said on Friday.

    Canada, on Dec. 3, officially announced that it agreed to remove the quotas for Vietnam from Jan. 1, 2005, the department said, noting that the decision will help boost Vietnamese garment exports in a fair competition environment.

    Starting Jan. 1, 2005, members of the World Trade Organization will no longer be subject to quota restrictions on textile and clothing exports following the Uruguay Round agreement on textiles and clothing signed in 1994.

    The pre-Uruguay Round garment mechanism, which imposed quotas on sales from cheap producers in developing countries to Canada, the United States, and European nations, sheltered textile industries of these developed countries from international competition.

    The department does not reveal latest statistics on trade between Vietnam and Canada. According to official government statistics, local garment and textile exports to Canada stood at 115 million US dollars in 2001, accounting for over 45 percent of Vietnam's total exports to the foreign country.

    Also on Dec. 3, the European Union (EU) and Vietnam inked an agreement, under which the former is to remove garment export quotas for the latter from Jan. 1, 2005. Vietnam plans to negotiate with the United States on a similar deal, wanting its biggest garment importer to eliminate quota restrictions on its garment and exports.

    This year, Vietnam is estimated to export over 4 billion dollars worth of garments and textiles to the world market, of which nearly one-fourth is expected to go to the EU.

    The country made garment export turnovers of nearly 3.97 billion dollars in the first 11 months of this year, a year-on-year rise of 18.6 percent. Its garment turnovers stood at 3.6 billion dollars in 2003, up 30.9 percent against 2002.

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