The textile and clothing trade is of major importance for developing countries, including the poorest, and it will undergo substantial change over the next decade. The comprehensive system of protectionism, with the quantitative restrictions of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) at its heart, is being dismantled.
There are projected changes for all exporters: South Asia should gain, and there are potential losers in Africa and (more speculatively) the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. While the direct impact on poverty is unpredictable, depending partly on government policy, the indirect impact is likely to be positive. But these effects are conditional on the promised liberalisation being implemented fully and not being offset by new forms of protection. This is not certain.