Bra war fudge will hurt world's poorest

By Alex Singleton | 5 September 2005

The Press Association has put out the story that China and the EU will each engage in "sharing the burden of releasing millions of garments currently held at customs into the shops, with half being counted against future import quotas from China and half being accepted in excess of current limits."

In the short term, this is a victory for EU consumers and Chinese producers alike. But what will happen next year? The deal brings uncertainty for retailers wishing to order next year's stock. Presumably Mandelson is hoping retailers will chose to place their orders with countries other than China. In a year supposedly dedicated to making poverty history, it is truly remarkable that the EU is restricting trade with a country containing 160,000,000 people living on less than a dollar a day.

But it is worth bearing in mind that the quotas will be gone for good after 2008.