Cargo Business Newswire

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Friday, March 9, 2012

TPP Apparel Coalition pushes for more flexibility

In Australia this week, the TPP Apparel Coalition held negotiations with the Australian and Vietnamese textile and apparel industries and other industry stakeholders at the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. The coalition advocated for simpler, flexible rules of origin and customs provisions, plus immediate market access to facilitate apparel trade and investment in the TPP region, according to a TPPAC statement released Friday.

The TPP Apparel Coalition asserted that restrictive rules such as the “yarn forward” style rule of origin--which require all materials that go into a garment to originate and be assembled in a TPP country to receive tariff-free treatment--are impractical in today’s global supply chains.

“Millions of well-paying U.S. jobs would be bolstered by flexible apparel rules and the successful conclusion of the TPP,” said Stephanie Lester vice president of international trade for the Retail Industry Leaders Association.

“It is time for U.S. trade policy to recognize that 98 percent of apparel sold in the United States is imported and not allow antiquated rules to hold up negotiations any longer,” concluded Steve Lamar, executive vice president for the American Apparel and Footwear Association.