E.U., Mediterranean Back Free Circulation Of Goods

ISTANBUL, July 21 (AFP) - Trade ministers from the European Union and 10 Mediterranean basin countries meeting here have decided to implement an accord aimed at boosting the free flow of goods in the region, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said Wednesday.
"The idea is to assign a single 'passport' to regional products so that they can be traded freely," he told a press conference at the end of talks here.
Proposed by Tunisia the objective would be to provide compensation for the suppression -- from January 1 -- of EU import quotas on textile imports from the southern Mediterranean.
"We want all customs and legal measures to be taken quickly by the (EU executive) commission so that the textile industry is in good shape on January 1, 2005," French External Trade Minister Francois Loos said.
Ministers also said they would back increased trade among southern Mediterranean countries.
Lamy noted that "commercial flows coming from the south to the EU increased 25 percent in the last four years while those from the EU toward the south rose 15 percent."