Quotas imposed on Vietnam's garments and textiles exported to the United States will be abolished as of Jan. 1, 2007, Vietnam News Agency reported Thursday.

Secretary General of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association Le Van Dao said the abolishment, which was in line with the World Trade Organization's regulations and the Vietnam-U. S. bilateral trade agreement, will surely create favorable conditions for Vietnam's enterprises.

However, the local garment sector will still have to face difficulties, he said, noting that the U.S. Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements is likely to make detailed plans for each Vietnam's outgoing garment batch, which will be exported under the last period of the quota system.

Under the plans, the United States will refuse importing any batches of Vietnamese garments which surpass the quota set for 2006 till Feb. 1, 2007, said the report.

Vietnam is estimated to reap some 5.5 billion U.S. dollars from exporting garments and textile goods, mainly to the European Union and the United States in 2006, up 14.6 percent against 2005. It made garment export turnovers of 5.4 billion dollars in the first 11 months of this year, a year-on-year surge of 25.1 percent, according to Vietnam's General Statistics Office.

Source: Xinhua