Under the multifibre agreement, the United States and the European Union (EU) have restricted imports from developing countries to protect their domestic textile industry. As part of the agreement, quotas (limited in numerical numbers) were allocated to each country that signed certain items that could be exported to the United States and the EU. (Note that at the beginning of the agreement, the EU did not exist in its current form; the agreement included the European Community at the time (EC) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Since 1995, the WTOs agreement on the textile and clothing industry (ATC) has taken over the mulltifibre agreement. Until January 1, 2005, the sector was fully integrated with the normal GATT rules. In particular, quotas have ended and importing countries are no longer able to distinguish between exporters. The agreement on textiles and clothing no longer exists: it is the only WTO agreement in which self-destruction has been incorporated. A textile watchdog (TMB) oversaw the implementation of the agreements. It consisted of a president and ten members who acted in their personal function. It followed the measures taken under the agreement to ensure their coherence and reported to the Goods Council, which reviewed the operation of the agreement before each new stage of the integration process. The textile watchdog also looked into disputes under the textile and clothing agreement.

If left unresolved, disputes could be referred to the regular WTOs dispute resolution body. When the textile and clothing agreement expired on January 1, 2005, the textile monitoring office no longer existed either. From 1974 to the end of the Uruguay Round, trade was governed by the Multifibre Agreement (AMF). It was a framework for bilateral agreements or unilateral measures to limit imports to countries whose domestic industry had suffered severe damage as a result of the rapid increase in imports. Products imported in each of the first three stages under GATT rules were to cover the four main types of textiles and clothing: yarns and yarns; Substances; Elaborate textile products; and clothes. All other restrictions that are not covered by the multifibre agreement and do not comply with the regular WTO agreements until 1996 were to be met or expire until 2005. Textile and clothing products were returned to GATT rules over a ten-year period. This was gradually done in four stages to give importers and exporters time to adjust to the new situation. Some of these products were previously under quota. All quotas introduced on 31 December 1994 were transferred to the new agreement.