After the elimination of quotas: (no) cause for concern for the German textile and apparel industry?

On 1 January 2005 all the quotas that limited trade in textile products were eliminated for the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The EU also abolished the quantity restrictions for imports of textiles and apparel from WTO countries. For the German textile and clothing industry this is not likely to have any direct or seriously negative effects since a thorough structural change have already taken place in recent decades and processes with high labour costs have been reduced and shifted abroad.