RUSSIA TO RESTRICT TEXTILE IMPORTS FROM EU.

Moscow will impose quotas on textile imports from the European Union, according to Dmitri Sukhoparov, head of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations’ regulation department. Sukhoparov said last week that restrictions will mainly affect imports of ready-made textile garments similar to those produced domestically. The measure follows an EU refusal to lift quotas on imports of Russian textiles at recent talks in Brussels, he claimed. Russian textile exports to the EU are presently limited to 140 million ECU per year, while the EU countries export 580 million ECU worth of textile products to Russia annually. Sukhoparov described the situation as "obvious discrimination" which required the Russian government to take retaliatory measures in order to protect domestic producers. (7)

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